Missing Pieces
by wellficme
Summary: The Atlanta Crew weren't the only ones who had hoped the CDC was a sanctuary in a nightmare world. Are you still the same person or has this world changed you into something new? what if you don't know who you were to begin with. A re-imagining TWD fic. Rated M for adult themes, occasional language and all the good stuff. Daryl/OC Andrea/OC. [no Mary-Sue or superwoman OC.]
1. Chapter 1

_**This is my first long story/re-imagining, so let me know if you are feeling it.**_

_**On with the show.**_

_**...**_

"This is fucking dumb."

"You got a better idea Elliot, cuz I'm all ears."

Elliot glared at the stupid bitch. "Any idea is better 'n this." He hissed, lowering his voice as a few of the undead seemed to turn in their direction. Their collective milky white eyes roving unseeingly over their parked van.

"Sorry," She replied sarcastically. "I meant ideas where we can get some fucking answers. Not just guesses and trial-and-error, Elliot. Answers."

"Well _Rose_," He emphasised her name, just as she had to his. "It doesn't even look like anyone is here anyway. They're all dead. Look." Elliot pointed out the tinted passenger side window of the van at a corpse walking around in military uniform, dragging an automatic rifle beside him, clipped on to his flak vest by a black strap. "Uniforms. They're dead. Let's go." Elliot said firmly, as if that was 'case closed'. He put his hands on the keys.

"Don't you fucking start this van!" Rose hissed venomously. "We didn't come all this way for nothing. We're getting out and having a look around."

"Ya know... I'm getting' real fucking sick of this shit Rose." Elliot dropped his hand from the keys but didn't drop his glare from her stormy eyes. "We're going back to 'the basement' and waiting it out. We shouldn't have left it in the first place."

"Oh my god." Rose's voice had become a low growl. "If I had to spend one more day in that death hole with you I was going to slit your throat in your sleep."

He really couldn't tell if she was joking anymore or not. But it wasn't entirely one-sided.

Elliot sighed through his nose as his mouth was clamped shut in a tight grind, trying his best not to let go of his last bit of reasoning. "Look. We restock, we go back, and we wait a few more weeks. They might have this place back under control by then." He spat the words out slowly, holding her stare.

First to blink…

She doesn't blink.

"Get your shit Elliot. We are going now." Rose already had her finger on the trigger of the 9mm sitting in her lap.

The boil beneath Elliot's barely held together exterior was too much. He wasn't exactly known for his easy going personality.

Not that there was anyone to know him anymore.

Except Rose.

Elliot made a sudden lurch forward and grabbed onto the neck of Rose's t-shirt. Her hands sprang up instantly and clawed into his wrist as he held her.

"We are doing this only one way." He pulled her in close, so she was mere inches from his face. This was the only way he knew to really sink in to the stubborn bitch's head. Violence. "You stay behind me. One lap of the building." Each word was stressed with a spray of hot spit from his angry mouth.

Rose didn't fight because he was agreeing to her wishes. He just didn't like it.

_I don't give a fuck what you like Asshole._

Elliot continued. "If there is nothing, no one or anything, we get back in this fucking van and GO BACK! You understand me?!" He didn't even flinch as Rose's nails sunk further into the flesh of his inked up forearm.

"Get the fuck off me." She leaned away from him, struggling to release her shirt from his grip.

"Do you understand, Rose?" He growled, yanking her back forward again.

"YES! Get off me!" She screamed, lashing out at him with a fast fist.

Elliot let go of her shirt with a shove, sending her punch off course. Her fist hit nothing but air and then the middle seat of the van.

Rose shrunk back to her side of the van collected herself, trying to straighten the stretched out neck of her brown t-shirt. Glaring flaming daggers at the asshole who was checking the clip of his M4 rifle which he fished out from behind the seat.

Their heated exchange had attracted the attention of more than one undead. The decomposing former military servicemen lead a small group of two other rotting corpses to the dark green 1964 Econoline parked in the rear carpark of the large government building.

"This side." Elliot hissed as he opened the driver's side door and slid out.

"No shit, really?" Rose mumbled back under her breath, following him out, eyeing the dead crew out her window.

Thick bile rose up in the back of her throat. That overwhelming stench of decay and sun-cooked rotting bodies, that littered the lifeless car park, invaded every part of Rose's senses. Her nose and mouth filled with the hot Georgian air, tainted by decomposition. Even her ears seemed to be ringing as her brain tried to close up shop against the sickening lurch in her torso.

She stayed close to his heels as they crouched at the back of the van. Elliot looked at her and pointed to a small decorative garden that had withered and died weeks ago, having no one to tend it any longer. He hardly even seemed to notice the stink anymore. She envied him for that.

Peering out past the tail lights, Elliot shook his head. He was trying to push back his anger at Rose so he could focus on keeping her alive. She had seen this crumpled angry expression many times before. His fury fighting his reasoning.

Elliot let out a heavy breath. He was focussed again. With a quick glance back at Rose, he stood up and took off towards the garden at a sprint.

He didn't have to look back to know Rose was right with him. Despite the rage and hatred that had built between them, they still moved like they were fused together. She was hardly an inch from the big guys heels.

Rose wasn't short by any means at 5' 10", but Elliot still eclipsed her with the sheer height and width of his frame. He stood at least a half foot taller than she. Big shoulders complete with the Marine Corp tattoos and shaved head, Rose felt almost invisible in the younger man's impressive shadow.

"Keep your fucking head down." Elliot whispered harshly without even looking to see if she was or not.

They had run far enough that the small group of undead by their van were not an immediate threat. They had turned to follow Rose and Elliot, but the scattered corpses on the ground was a maze they were struggling to negotiate in their pursuit.

Elliot crouched up and looked for their next point.

"Ok. We move to the building." He hissed as he crouched back down and double-checked the sight of his M4 Carbine. "Keep ya back to the bricks and run if I tell you to. Got it?"

Rose nodded and shifted her weight so she could be ready to move again. There was no 'ready, set, go', or count-in, with Elliot. You just had to keep up.

Elliot sprung up and closed the distance between them and the large grey building in a matter of seconds. He grabbed on to Rose and shoved her into a small doorway cut out, covering her with himself, back to her, and looking around for any undead.

Rose hit the door with a soft "Oomph.", knocking the breath she was holding out of her lungs. Elliot couldn't help but feel a little satisfied at her rough landing.

Catching her breath again and giving Elliot a glare he could feel through the back of his skull, Rose tried the doorhandle, knowing it was probably locked.

It was of course. Nothing worth it is ever easy.

"Lets get around the front of the building." She ordered quietly.

Elliot briefly looked over his shoulder at Rose and moved forward with a nod. He kept his rifle high and stepped slowly around the curve of the building.

Rose gripped her 9mm in her clammy palms.

_Keep your breathing steady and remember, if you shoot yourself in the foot Elliot will never let you live it down._

Elliot picked up the pace. The man could run for days.

Making quick work of their circumnavigation of the government building, Elliot and Rose ducked under the large sign on the side of the structure.

CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, ATLANTA GA.

"Elliot, stop." Rose whispered.

"Keep moving Rose, damn it!" He hissed back.

"Shh, I can hear something." She ignored his order and cocked her head, straining to listen. "I can hear people." She gasped, meeting Elliot's furious eyes that flickered with surprise at her words.

People.

Elliot pressed back against the bricks and closed his eyes, listening for the same voices.

She was right. There were others.

"Ok. Stay behind me." He reminded her. "We don't know them or who they are. We listen first, got it?"

Rose nodded, but all she could think about was the fact that there were other people so close. After months of 'Got it?' she was _so _ready to talk to someone else.

But Elliot was right. Like always.

Rose leaned against the bricks beside Elliot and listened. There was no undead in sight, just regular dead bodies. Focussing their hearing, the pair concentrated on the not too far away shouting.

…"Walkers!"…

…"Shut up!"…

…"He made a call!"…

…"Will you forget Fort Benning!"…

…"The camera, it moved!"…

…"You need to let go Rick!"…

…"Let's go!"…

Rose grabbed on to Elliot's shirt sleave and made eye contact. They only needed a split second for the message to pass from her grey eyes to his dark ones.

_We need to help them._

"Fuck! Stay behind me." Elliot growled as he sprung away from the bricks towards the cries for help.

…"Please help us!"…

…"If you don't let us in you're killing us! Please!"…

…"YOU'RE KILLING US! YOU'RE KILLING US!"…

…

The sudden end to the cries for help made that familiar hot sick feeling rise again in Rose's mouth. She stayed close to Elliot as they ran. Fighting to see through the tears that were beginning to blind her, she just stayed on Elliot's heels as they closed the distance in a matter of blurry seconds.

A group of 10 or so men, women and children were standing in front of the CDC building, bathed in a white glow of light from the entrance.

Rose only caught a glimpse of the people before she was dragged to the dirt behind a large potted tree by Elliot. His sweaty palm clamped over her mouth before she could say 'Hey!'

She struggled against his large body until he caught her wild eyes. Holding a finger to his lips he silently gestured the words she had heard a million times from the man… 'Shut your fucking mouth!'

Her grip relaxed and her eyes lost their wild animal look. Elliot slid his hand from her mouth and sat up to look around the edge of the plant.

Everything in Elliot's instincts were telling him this was bad. These people were about to be mowed down by a spray of military bullets and he wasn't going to let Rose see that. He knelt on her thigh, keeping her pinned to the ground, despite her silent protests and flailing punches.

A man's voice echoed out from the white light of the building.

…"Move inside. Come to the back. Don't let any walkers in with you."…

Elliot watched the group move slowly inside. His pleads for them to turn away and run, dying on his tongue before he could scream it to them. He knelt down harder on Rose. Elliot wasn't going to let her up to get slaughtered along with these people.

Rose beat her fist into the hard muscle of his leg, desperately trying to free herself. The ache from Elliot's knee in her thigh was shooting through her body with each throb of her crushed muscle.

Elliot grabbed on to her wrist and pinned it to the dead grass beside him, not taking his eyes off the disappearing people.

Tears streaked down Rose's face as she fought back the pain building in her body. A scream of agony was choking her as she contained it in her throat. Her right hand pinned to the ground, her left clawed at the grass beside her until her fingertips brushed the cold steel of her thrown aside 9mm.

A split second was all it took for everything in her mind to weigh up the option of pulling a gun on Elliot. It didn't work out very well last time.

Elliot sensed when Rose suddenly stopped fighting him, and realised he was pinning her down so much harder than he meant to. He instantly lifted his weight off her thigh and wrist, remorse joining the massing amount of pain he felt as he watched the people walking into their death trap.

Rose shuffled back from Elliot, rubbing her wrist and trying to get her racing heart back under her control.

…"Why are you here? What do you want?"…

…"A chance."…

…"That's asking an awful lot these days."…

…"I know."…

…"You'll all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."…

…"We can do that"…

The conversation, from beyond where Rose could see, was making her head spin. The doors were going to close any minute.

"Elliot!" She shouted now, stunning the man from his silent observation. "We are going now!" Rose lunged forward to Elliot, shoving into his hulking frame hard and sending him crashing past the potted plant. "This is no time for your PTSD bullshit!"

Elliot fell to his knees and hands beside the plant. He could see the roller doors coming to life. So could Rose from her new standing position as she got to her feet.

"No Rose." He snarled at her. "They're going to kill them." He got to his feet and picked up his rifle. "And we ain't hanging around to watch. Get back to the van." He grabbed her wrist and looked her dead in the eye.

Rose twisted her hand free from his grip. "Not this time." She said, eyes wide and glowing with fire. "This time you listen to me." She stepped back, keeping his stare.

…"Make sure you got everything. Once those doors close, they won't open again."…

The roller door moved with a mechanical whirl, descending lower by the second.

"NOW ELLIOT! MOVE!" She screamed in his face.

Elliot could hear the blood rushing in his ears as his pulse raced. Rose's scream made his body move automatically while his brain checked out. Reaching forward and grabbing her wrist again, Elliot turned back and ran towards the steel roller doors.

Rose could barely keep her feet under herself as Elliot dragged her towards the blinding fluoresces of the buildings entrance.

The door was half shut all ready before they even reached the screeching metal rollers.

Grabbing on to the back of Rose's head and bending her over in the middle, Elliot pushed her down under the door, sending her sliding on her stomach across the polished marble floors on the other side.

The last members of the large group scuttered back out of the way as the unknown woman came to a short stop at their feet.

"Who the hell…" Was all Rose heard before she sat up in time to see Elliot rolling under the door, just before it finally closed.

The silence was ringing in everyone's ears as the mechanical screech and whir of the doors finally stopped.

Rose lay panting on the floor, eyes still on Elliot. They we're in.

_We're safe._


	2. Chapter 2

"Who the hell…?" Daryl uttered in surprise as the sliding woman came to a stop at his feet, his crossbow raised instinctually.

The dirty blonde ignored him and looked back in time to see her partner roll under the last gap of the closing roller door.

Shane and Rick moved through their group, putting themselves on the front line as usual. Shane drew his gun but held it low, offside from the people who just suddenly appeared from the settling dusk of evening left outside.

The woman was on her stomach, panting and watching her partner as he took his bearings and got to his knees.

"Whoa. Slow there man." Shane instructed, spotting the military standard issue rifle beside the big guy.

Raising his hands slightly to the side, away from his side arm, the large tattooed, fatigue wearing, mid 20's guy watched as the blonde rest her face on the cool marble and closed her eyes.

"Easy Shane, Daryl." Rick gestured for them to lower their weapons. "Are you okay?" He asked first, eyes moving between the woman and the soldier.

Neither answered with words.

The guy gave a stiff nod, looking between the group and the man standing behind them with the automatic weapon.

The woman let out a shuddering breath as her body relaxed.

Rick grew a little concerned with her lack of response and he stepped towards her. Seeing the military guy tense up, he put his own hands up and continued slowly forward.

Shane dropped his arm but didn't holster his gun. Daryl kept his crossbow against his shoulder and just watched the stand off before him.

"Is she ok?" Dale asked, startling a few of the group members around him.

"Has she been bitten?" The guy in the lab coat asked.

Rick eased down on a knee beside her, keeping his eyes on the soldier. Putting a hand to her shoulder, he spoke quietly. "Hey, are you okay?"

She shuddered slightly to his gentle touch and the soft words at the back of her neck. She pulled her hands under herself and rolled slowly to her back.

Resting her head back against the floor, a large grin spread across her face to her bright grey eyes, and soft laughter from the woman flittered around the room. Her muted laugh of relief passed to Rick and a few of the others watching. Each relaxing a little from the absurdity of her reply.

"Okay." Said Rick with a nod, extending her a hand to help her to her feet.

Reaching up and grabbing the man's hand, she pulled herself up and dusted off the front of her reddish-brown tee and black jeans. Running her fingers over her matted blonde hair, she rolled her neck with a soft crunch. She turned and stepped over to the soldier, who shot her a scathing look as he brushed away her outstretched hand.

He got to his feet and stepped towards Rick, mindful of the other men with their weapons still in hand.

The woman just stepped away from him, rolling her eyes.

"Elliot Sandler." He introduced himself gruffly and extended a hand to Rick.

"Rick Grimes." Rick picked up his hand and gave it a brief shake. He gave the man a solemn nod and looked to the woman walking towards Shane. "And you are?"

"Uhh… Rose." She replied with a shrug, and a look that said she seemed unsure about her own reply.

"Elliot and Rose." Rick repeated back. "If you don't mind me askin', where did you all come from?"

"We heard your shouting." Elliot spoke up, cutting off Rose before she could reply. "We were checking out the building ourselves and came running to help."

Rose seemed to agree with Elliot's answer and gave a soft nod and a sigh.

"Where is the military?" Elliot asked loudly, looking past Rick to the man standing at the elevators.

"All gone." The doctor replied. "It's just me here."

"And who _are _you?" Rick asked him, with a brief nod to Elliot and a step towards the doctor.

"Dr Edwin Jenner." He replied dryly. "Welcome to Zone 5."

…...

"Are you ok?" Jacqui asked Rose as they stepped out of the tight elevator.

"Oh… I am now." Rose replied with a wisp of a grin. "It is so good to be around other people. After a while you start thinking you are the only one left alive."

"Except …Elliot, was it?" Asked Andrea, her blue eyes looking at the broad shoulders of the tall soldier walking beside Shane.

"Ugh, yeah." Rose replied, a look of abhorrence marring her normally pretty face. When the women beside her each spared her a questioning look, she answered for her unkind reply. "Familiarity breeds contempt."

The ladies beside her seemed to understand what she meant but they couldn't comprehend the depths of her contempt for that man.

"Your name was Rose?" Carol asked as she ushered a reluctant Sophia forward with the group to Jenner's lab for their blood tests.

"Um, yes and no." Rose replied evasively again. "Long story. But call me Rose for now. It's growing on me." She chuckled at the pun the other people around her didn't understand.

…...

"Oww." Carl uttered, looking up to his mom beside him.

"It's ok honey." Lori said, brushing her sons fringe back from his face.

Rose held the small cotton ball in the crease of her elbow, having just had her own blood drawn by the reserved doctor. She discreetly watched Elliot as he walked slowly around the room, looking through windows and studying exits, no doubt. She knew him too well by now.

Rose dropped her head and shook it softly, sighing to herself. A hollow rumble of an empty stomach growled behind her, catching Rose's attention. She turned to see who owned the noisy guts with a cocked eyebrow and a hint of a smile.

Daryl looked up from his stomach, having not only heard but felt his digestive system's audible complaint. He met Rose's good-humoured grin and intense grey eyes, giving him his first good look at her, not just the matted dark blonde mess at the back of her head. He smirked back at the quirked expression on her face.

A small snort of laughter came from the back of her throat, making Daryl choke out his own small snigger and look away. Almost on cue, Rose's stomach growls back, making her break out in to her full blown laugh again.

Daryl shook his head and walked over for his blood test, still smirking at the strange blonde woman.

"What's so funny?" Asked Carl, as he walked back over to his seat holding his own cotton ball and keen to get in on the joke.

"My stomach and that guy's stomach are having a conversation." Rose chuckled, pointing at Daryl as he took a seat on the bench next to Jenner instead of the seat like everyone else.

"That's Daryl. I'm Carl." The kid said. "This is my mum and that's my dad." He sort of introduced, pointing at Rick and the woman beside him.

"Lori." The waif-like brunette said, holding onto Carl.

"You're very lucky to have your family Carl." Rose said, a little quieter.

"I know." The boy replied. His off handed words didn't convince Rose that he knew just how lucky he was.

Lori looked at Rose, but she couldn't seem to muster more than a small grimace at the new girl.

Andrea stepped forward for her test as Daryl walked away with a grumble at the doc.

"What is the point of all this?" The huffy blonde woman asked as Jenner poked her with the needle and vial. "I mean, if we were infected wouldn't we have a fever?"

"I've already broken all the rules letting you in here." Jenner answered. "At least let me follow this one procedure." He pulled back the vial and wrote Andrea's name on the side label.

Andrea stood up and grew suddenly a bit pale, closing her eyes for a moment as Jacqui held her up.

"Is she alright?" Jenner asked.

"She hasn't eaten in days." Jacqui answered back curtly. "None of us have."

Jenner nodded his head and looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking again. "Lets get some food then." He got to his feet and put all the small tubes of blood together in a tray. "If you'd all like to follow me."

Carl smiled at his mother as his own stomach rumbled. Lori gave him an excited smile in return. "Come on." She ushered him to his feet.

…...

Elliot and Shane dragged a few tables together, making a long table for everyone to sit around, in the large cafeteria of the CDC.

Rick and Jenner came from a storage pantry with a tray of glasses and plates. Glenn following with a few handfuls of cutlery, he was barely able to keep a grip on all of it.

Just as Carol and Lori came from the kitchen, with a couple of large serving dishes filled with pasta and bolognaise, Dale and Daryl returned from a side trip to the well stocked bar, each sporting a few bottles of red wine and Southern Comfort.

Rose took one of the serving bowls off the overloaded Carol, placing it on the table for her with a brief smile.

Carol shot her back a soft grin before looking up to Rose's hair. "I think we might have to find you a hairbrush later." The older woman said with a small simper.

"Yeah. Or I could just clipper it short." Rose replied, admiring the woman's brave hair choice. The pair shared a small embarrassed laugh before taking a seat at the dining table. Sophia taking up the seat on the other side of her mother.

Conversations went on hold as everyone eagerly filled their plates and glasses. The two mums had whipped up a delicious carb-loaded meal for their kids and the hungry group, taking full advantage of the large kitchen facilities and well stocked freezers and food pantry.

After downing a few fast mouthfuls, Rose looked up again to the woman beside her with the short mousy hair. "It's Carol and Sophia, right?"

Carol gave her a shy nod as she chewed her mouthful behind her hand. Rose continued around the table. "Lori, Carl and Rick… Dale?" She asked, pointing at the older man with her fork.

"Uh huh." He replied, topping up his wine glass.

"Dr Jenner, Andrea, Glenn… T-_Dog_, was it?" She continued. T nodded and she went on, skipping over Elliot who she was blatantly ignoring. "Jacqui, Daryl." Rose pointed at the man who's stomach was a little quieter now. "Aaand… I don't think I have heard your name yet." She paused pointing at the quiet, brooding man at the end of the table.

"Shane." He replied, without the slightest hint at humour in his voice.

"Okay, Shane." Rose finished, slightly put off by his sour demeanour.

Dale stood up with his bottle of wine in hand. "Would you like another drink Rose while you tell us the story of you and Elliot?" You could hardly call the older gentleman subtle.

"Ha, yeah okay." She smirked at the hint-hint. "Where do you start?"

"Well, I find it best," Dale helped as he topped up her glass with the red zinfandel. "…to start at the beginning."

"The problem is, I don't know the beginning." Rose said with a dry smirk pressed onto her mouth. "Ask him." She pointed at Elliot with her fork without looking at him.

A few heads turned to Elliot, quietly stuffing his pasta in his mouth. He sucked in the last of the fettuccine and considered his words, not that he was much for public speaking.

"There ain't that much to tell." He started with a shrug. The 20-something year old guy didn't know exactly what he should and should not tell these people. "Found her in a car." He points his fork at Rose. "Half dead, she don't even know who she is."

"What do you mean?" Asked curious Dale.

"She ain't got any memory, or ID, or anything." He says before taking another mouthful of pasta, trying to end his half of the story as quickly as possible.

"No memory? At all?" Andrea asks, looking at Rose across the table.

"No, none." Rose says with a small voice and a tiny shrug. Cleary Elliot wasn't going to say anymore as he was shoving more food in his mouth. Rose sighed and continued. "I obviously know how to talk and read and other things but I don't remember anything about who I am or my life before seven weeks ago." She took a small sip of wine and went on. "Anyway, I was kinda out of it when he found me so I don't really remember the car bit, but I know it was a little while after that I came around to find myself locked in a restaurant basement with that guy, and what sounded like a hundred of those dead things moaning outside our door. We had food, and some table cloths we used as bedding and just stayed there for weeks. The shit storm went on without us and we… I don't know… went a little cabin-feverish." She looked up surreptitiously at Elliot before moving on. "The food rations started to run out so we decided that next time the moaning stopped we would just pack up and make a run for it."

Elliot shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but continued eating.

Rose rubbed her eyes and told the rest of her story with blurry eyes from rubbing a bit too hard. "The world was so… crazy. Just dead bodies and _walking _dead bodies and no one else as far as we could tell. So we found a van and started driving to check out government facilities… And that's it really."

"So wait, you don't remember anything?" Lori asked. "Family or anyone at all?"

Rose shook her head faintly, fighting the sting behind her eyes.

"How's ya name Rose then?" Asked Daryl from the side.

"She's got ink." Elliot injected before she could answer, not looking up from his meal.

Rose sighed and turned her back to the table. Pulling the neck of her shirt down over her shoulder, she revealed a dark red rose and green stem on her pale white skin, about the size of a small apple.

"I don't think my name is Rose. He just thinks its funny." Rose added dejectedly.

"How would you know?" Glenn asked over his glass.

"Well would you get a tattoo of a Rose if your name was Rose?" She shot back. "I wouldn't."

"So how come you don't remember anything?" Carl asked curiously. "Did you hit your head or something, like on TV?"

"No, I'm fine." Rose said, turning back to face the table again. "Elliot reckons its PTSD or something."

"Sort of." Jenner spoke up. "Dissociative Amnesia, occurs when a person has witnessed or experience a particularly traumatising event. It's a way the brain protects itself from stress. With Dissociative Amnesia, the memories still exist but are buried deep in a person's mind and cannot be recalled. However the memories may resurface on their own, or after being triggered by something."

"I don't want to remember." Rose said flatly.

"You won't have a choice." Replied Jenner.

A hollow silence followed his words, before Dale finally broke the quiet tension. "Anyone want more wine? Maybe… a little for Carl?"

…...


	3. Chapter 3

Daryl topped up Elliot's glass with the amber SoCo. He had made it his personal mission to get everyone maggoted.

"So, you gonna tell us more?" T-Dog asked Elliot before tipping back his own bottle.

"Nah. I'll leave that up to her." Elliot dismissed, swishing his glass before taking a large gulp.

T-Dog, Daryl, Glenn, Rick and Elliot sat around the cafeteria tables, guy talkin' and draining bottles.

"You're awful quiet over there Glenn," Rick observed. "You doin' okay?"

"Mmm…" grumbled Glenn without raising his head from the table surface.

"Ay! Your glass ain't empty yet." Growled Daryl. "Keep going there, Fried Rice."

Glenn looked up at Daryl's somewhat racial slur with a frustrated frown, achieving exactly the response Daryl sought. He tipped a little more Southern Comfort in Glenn's glass and was rewarded with a second groan.

"Okay Gentleman. I'll say goodnight." Rick slurred slightly when he stood, grabbing the closest wine bottle as he turned from the table. "I might go say a quick thank you to our host." He smiled as he walked away, watching Glenn struggle to drink his glassful.

"'Night man." T-Dog said with a wave over his shoulder.

"I'm gonna go too." Elliot said, getting to his feet and tipping his drink into Glenn's glass. "Better go check out these showers everyone is carrying on about."

"Thanks." Glenn grunted, eyeing his refilled glass.

Elliot turned and walked away from the men behind him. As he got to the door, Rose appeared from around the corner. Rolling his eyes away from her with a half-hearted angry sigh, Elliot walked straight past Rose, bumping her shoulder with his arm and skiting her back a bit.

"Asshole." Rose mumbled under her breath with a heated glare to the back of his head as she entered the cafeteria. Wet hair and hairbrush in hand, Rose sat at the table beside T-Dog and quickly received a glass of the brown liqueur herself. She took a mouthful of the sweet spiced alcohol, letting it burn her throat and dull her senses.

"So?" T-Dog asked the woman beside him. "Why do you hate that guy so much?"

Rose scoffed at his pointed question. These guys clearly had a good head start on the drinking. "You lot don't know him yet. He is an Asshole. Capital 'A'."

"Then why did you stay so long with him?" Glenn asked blearily through his glass.

"You say that like I had so many options." Rose shook her head. "Beside, just because I hate the guy doesn't mean I don't trust him. I would trust that Asshole to lead me through the gates of Hell and back. Pretty much did already."

"Kinda confusing." Daryl mumbled.

"Tell me about it." She shrugged, lifting her hairbrush to the tangle at the back of her head. "I found it best if I just stood behind him. My 'moral centre' prevented me from stabbing him in the back."

She tried to drag the brush through the blonde rat's nest that was her hair, but only got about an inch down before a soft expletive passed her lips. "God damn it."

Glenn slumped in his chair and fell slowly forward on to the floor beside the table. Daryl, T-dog and Rose laughed at Glenn passing out, before the guys jumped up to help him to his feet. T-Dog hooked his arm around Glenn and slung the Asian kid's arm over his shoulders.

"I got it." T-Dog smirked at the stone-cold-out kid under his wing. "Say nighty-night Glenn." T-Dog wagged his limp arm up and down and half dragged Glenn from the room, laughing.

Rose took another sip from her glass and picked up her brush again. She grabbed a handful of hair at the side and began stroking out the bottom with the course brush, gritting her teeth with every rough stroke.

"Your gonna rip it all out if ya keep that up." Daryl chuckled, watching her battle the mess.

"Maybe that's a good thing. Start from scratch." Rose grumbled. She dropped her exhausted arms and threw the brush on to the table with a huff.

Rolling her head with a soft crunch in her neck, she picked up her glass and downed the last of it.

Daryl bit at the inside of his mouth and looked at the bottle of SoCo in his hand. He hesitantly stood up from where he was leaning against the table behind him and took a swig.

Rose watched him from her seat as he walked around the table and stood beside her. Daryl poured a finger of the drink in her glass and set the bottle down beside it. Pausing for a moment, he reached over and picked up Rose's scavenged hairbrush and dragged a seat behind her chair, so that the two seats were back to back.

"I had a cousin when I was younger." He said quietly as he sat behind her, collecting up the hair that fell forward over her shoulders. "My aunt and uncle never looked after her like they shoulda. Her hair was always like this."

"You use to brush it out for her?" Rose asked as Daryl started slow strokes at the bottom of her hair.

"Use to do a lot things her parents shoulda done for her." Daryl said flatly.

Rose shrunk down in her seat a little, resting the back of her head on the top of the chair. She took small sips of the warm alcohol as Daryl slowly worked through some of the damp tangle.

"Ow." Rose voiced after a few minutes of not-uncomfortable silent brushing.

"Yeah, yer gonna have to cut some of this out." Daryl shook his head with a smirk at the small bits of hair that had turned to dreadlocks in the back.

"Well… you got a knife?" She asked taking the opportunity to top up her glass.

"I ain't doin' it." He scoffed.

"Well I can't." Rose replied. "It's only hair. Just nick off the worst bits."

"Pftt.. You sure?" Daryl asked, pulling his knife from the sheath at his belt.

"Yes. Do it." Rose affirmed, blasé. She shrunk back down into her chair and sipped her drink as Daryl looked over the knife in his hand.

"Alright. It's all on you if this goes bad." He sighed.

A few light tugs and a small pile of well-and-truly knotted blonde strands on the floor, Rose was able to pass the brush all the way through her hair. Her scalp was a bit tender but the alcohol in her system dulled the slight pain.

"Well?" She asked Daryl as he pushed the knife back in to it's holder.

"Better." He chuckled, standing up and pushing his chair back to its place at the table.

Rose stood up and ran her fingers through her hair. "Thanks Daryl."

Daryl gave her a nod and drank the last mouthful of Southern Comfort from the bottle. As he placed the empty back down on the table he noticed how close Rose was standing to him. His skin prickled slightly when she looked up at him suddenly.

Storm grey. That was the colour. Her eyes were the icy cool shade of sleeted rain and winter's brew.

Rose quirked a smile at Daryl and looked away shyly.

"Hey!" The loud voice made both Daryl and Rose jump and look at the cafeteria doorway. Shane had appeared from around the corner, rubbing softly at the side of his neck. "Any a that left?" He asked, pointing at the empty bottle on the table.

"Uh, no. …Sorry." Rose stumbled over her words slightly, looking back sheepishly at Daryl.

Shane turned and left as quickly as he had appeared.

"Um. Thanks again." Rose mumbled to Daryl, picking up the brush on the table.

Daryl just gave her another nod and stepped around the scattered chairs.

"Goodnight." She called to the quiet man as he walked towards the exit. He waved with two fingers over his shoulder as he left the cafeteria.

…...

Elliot found a change of clothes in a storage room. A grey CDC stamped t-shirt and shorts. He chucked a set into Rose's office-come-room and made his way to the showers.

The bright glare of florescent lighting and reflective white surfaces made his tired, alcohol-tainted eyes ache as he entered the communal bathroom.

A familiar smell of acid clung to the air.

Elliot noticed the hunched over, towel-clothed body of Andrea, clinging to the toilet and emptying her stomach.

"God damn!" The big guy grumbled as she heaved again. "The fuck is wrong with you?"

The blonde turned slowly and gave him her best stare-of-death.

"I mean… fuck." He stuttered, regretting his words. "…You alright?"

Andrea wiped her mouth on a corner of her towel and fell back from the toilet. She held her head in her hands and sobbed quietly.

Elliot felt guilty enough that he stepped forward, against his own best judgement, and tried to find some comforting words. None came to him.

"It's all gone." She mumbled behind her hands.

"That's good." He scoffed. "Always feel better after a good spew."

Looking up at him with bleary, red eyes she scowled before replying. "No. I mean everything. It's all gone. There is nothing out there anymore."

"Oh that." He shook his head at himself. "I worked that one out a few weeks ago. I pretty much did the same thing." Elliot gestured to the toilet.

"What's the point of going on?" She wiped at her eyes and turned away from him again.

"Well…" He crouched down behind her and mustered his best comforting voice. "As I see it, ya got two options. Keep going or get ripped apart by dead things."

"That's suppose to make me feel better?" She asked incredulously.

"Guess so." He muttered, ashamed for the first time of his skill level at comforting women. "Look, it actually seems like we got it pretty good here."

"Seems like?" She asked.

"Yeah. So quit cryin' and find a book to read or something." He finished quietly.

"What's happening in here?" Dale asked as he suddenly appeared in the bathroom doorway.

"She's puking her guts up." Elliot answered, getting to his feet. "All yours, old man." He clapped a hand on Dale's shoulder as he walked out the door.

He looked over his shoulder at Andrea on the floor, hoping that Dale would be able to find the words to make her feel better. The words he couldn't find, but wished he had.

…...

Rose cracked her knuckles loudly and yawned as she entered the cafeteria, having not slept as much as she wished she could have.

Everything in her seemed to crack these days. She started to curse getting older when she realised something. Not many people get to grow old anymore.

_Awake for two seconds and I've already fucked up the day._

Sitting down at the long table next to Glenn, who was face down in the same seat and position as last night, Rose rolled her neck, cracking it too.

"Ugh. What the hell is that?" Asked Andrea as she looked at something at her feet.

Rose leaned back and looked under the table to Andrea's spot.

"Oh, sorry." Rose apologised, embarrassed. "I forgot to clean that up last night." She stood up and crouched beside Andrea scooping up her pile of knotted hair trimmings.

"What is it?" Andrea asked, sounding a little annoyed.

"Uhh…" Rose caught a glimpse of Daryl, the agitated look and slightly creeping red in his face saying he didn't want everybody knowing he had brushed her hair last night. "I… couldn't get the brush through my hair… so I cut some knots out." Rose answered, standing up and looking away from the group. She was hiding her face under the guise of looking for a trash can.

"You didn't have to do it yourself." Carol smiled as she topped up Sophia's glass of orange juice. "I have some scissors. I could have done it for you."

"That's okay. I managed." She said tipping the clippings into a bin. "We do strange things that we wouldn't normally do when we have had a few drinks. Things we normally wouldn't do or talk about the next morning in the illuminating light of day." She sat back down, trying her best not to look at Daryl as she spoke.

"Mmm… eggs." T-Dog exclaimed as he emerged from the kitchen brandishing a large frying pan in hand. "Powdered, but I do 'em good."

…...

_***In case you haven't noticed, I am writing this as if it were deleted scenes (where I am sticking to the original story).**_

_**I have many plot twists in the near future planned so don't start getting comfortable thinking that this fic will be canon.**_


	4. Chapter 4

"Everything?" Rose asked, trying to mask the hopeful whine in her voice.

"Experience, memories. Everything you were or ever will be… gone." Jenner explained reverently.

The 'first event' leaving everyone speechless, every pair of eyes desperately watching the large overhead screen.

"Is that what happened to Jim." Sophia asked innocently, reminding a few adults that the children were there, watching this too. Carol nodded and pulled the small girl in closer to her hip, burying her face in her mother's comfort.

Andrea swayed slightly, defeated inside.

"Her sister died two days ago." Lori offered to Jenner who was now watching Andrea's eyes well up with tears.

"I lost someone too. I know how devastating it is." His dry words the best he could offer. Turning back to the screen, he speaks to the automated computer. "Vi, scan forward to second event."

The large screen moved forward past the dark image of the lifeless brain, slowing when a small tree of red sparks began to glow and grow from the very base of the brain.

"We have reports of it beginning anywhere from three minutes to eight hours after brain death." Jenner continued. "This particular subject took two hours, one minute and seven seconds."

"It restarts the brain?" Asked Lori, horrifyingly echoing the thoughts of everyone watching.

"Just the brain stem. It gets them up and moving." Jenner corrected. "The human part, the _you_ part, that doesn't come back."

Daryl turned to look behind him where he knew Rose was standing. The woman had a white-knuckle grip on the desk in front of her. Her eyes were closed tightly but her face was washed with an expression of relief. Breathing heavily she slowly opened her eyes and looked again up at the big screen, drawing Daryl's gaze back to the doctor as he explained that he has no idea what it is or how to treat it.

Rose's self-interested relief wavered and melted into ice in her stomach as Jenner admitted he had lost contact with other facilities.

"I've been in the dark for almost a month." Jenner shrugged.

"There's nothing left anywhere. That's what you're really saying, right?" Andrea accused the stone-silent doctor.

Dale interrupted the stunned, hollow silence. "I just have one more question Doctor. That clock," He pointed to the red digital countdown timer on the wall just as to passes to 00.59.59. "It's counting down. What happens when it gets to zero."

Jenner seemed to pall at the question. Turning from the group and making his way down a ramp he mumbles quietly, "The basement generators, they run out of fuel."

"What does that mean?" Rick shouted to Jenner as he disappeared out the door. Getting no reply, he looks up. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"

The computerised woman's voice echoed around the facility, answering Rick. "When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur."

…...

Elliot walked up behind Rose, as they left the large round room, grabbing her hard on the arm. "Get your shit, we are going now!" He growled at her quietly.

"Ow, get your damn hands off me." She struggled against his firm grip.

Elliot shoved her towards the offices and walked off, looking for another woman.

He stalked down to the rec room and the then to the showers. Realising he didn't see her leave the computer room, Elliot turned back and jogged back to the place he saw her last.

A tail of blonde curls was visible over the top of a desk in the middle of the room.

Elliot walked up to the centre of the room and crouched down in front of Andrea.

"Hey." He uttered.

She blinked and focused on his face, seeing him, instead of seeing through him.

"They ain't gonna be able to fix this, ya know." He gestured with his thumb to the doorway Rick, Glenn, Shane and T-Dog had run off through, in search of the basement generators. "We gotta go."

"Go where?" She asked rhetorically, shaking her head slowly with her pointed, teary gaze.

"Decontamination is a favourite word of the military's. Along with 'covert' and 'victimless'." He explained, sounding paranoid. "It don't mean nothing but bad shit."

Andrea hardly moved, frustrating Elliot.

He kept his short-fuse in check and steadied his words. "Look, just get your stuff together. We can talk about it after we get out of here."

She rolled to her side and climbed slowly to her feet, blankly following his instructions.

Elliot stood up and turned to find Rick.

…...

Rose was in the kitchen, stuffing cans and food staples into a pair of large duffel bags.

Elliot jogged up behind her before grabbing the second bag and following suit.

"He ain't givin' it up." Elliot muttered. "Rick. He's still trying despite loosing the lights and air."

"We'll grab them on the way out. Make them come with us." She answered, moving to the canned fruits.

Elliot smirked a little when she said 'us', not letting her see his satisfaction.

"Take this one." Rose zipped up her full bag and handed it to Elliot with a soft grunt. It weighted more than she expected. "Go to the entrance we came in and make sure we can get out safely. I'll be right behind you."

Elliot picked up the duffel and turned to leave. His stomach lurched at the thought of leaving her, but he knew she was right.

As he stalked around the scattered tables and moved quickly to the door, a red light began to flash with a shrill siren alarm.

The loud voice of Vi, echoed around the facility. "30 minutes to decontamination."

Elliot turned back to look at Rose, concern tainting his stern, young features. "Leave yourself plenty of time. The elevators don't work." He said with a nod before turning and leaving in a jog.

Rose stuffed whatever she could reach into the last bag, not even looking to read labels anymore.

Feeling the weight of the bag, she knew she wouldn't be able to carry much more herself. Rose looked over the well-stocked shelving. She had barely taken a fraction of what was available to them. Shaking her head and cursing under her breath, Rose hoisted the bag over her shoulder and made her way out of the cafeteria.

The heavy bag pressed into her shoulder blade and banged into her spine as it rocked with each hurried step she took. Bruises she could deal with later.

Getting to the offices and showers, she called out to make sure no one was still lingering around. Satisfied the rooms were empty Rose picked up the pace and ran as best she could towards the stairs.

She placed her hand on the bar to open the door to the stairwell and looked down the corridor to her left. The main room was down that way.

Deciding to herself to go past the computer station and use the other stairwell, Rose again ran through the halls. She couldn't leave without making sure no one else was still down here.

Approaching the room, Rose dropped the heavy duffel and stopped stunned. The entrance was blocked by a heavy steel door.

Rose put her hands on the steel, unable to process the sudden appearance of an impossibly large obstacle.

Vi's distinct voice again echoed around the facility, making Rose stumble back from the door with surprise.

"H.I.T's; High Impulse Thermobaric Fuel Air Explosives consist of a two stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive, except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5000 and 6000 degrees, and is used when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."

Sickening dread lurched through Rose as tears fell unknowingly down her face. Breathing heavily and looking only at the blast door in front of her, she walked slowly forward and put her hands on the steel again.

A tiny vibration tingled through Rose's fingertips.

Looking at the expanse of cold steel between her hands she focused, and felt it again.

Rose held her breath and slowly turned her head. She pressed her ear to the cool door and closed her eyes.

*Thunk*

The dull echo of metal on metal, vibrated through the steel.

Rose stumbled back again, shaking her head.

_There were others still inside._

She looked around and saw a small keypad on the wall beside the door. Getting her brain into gear, Rose stepped towards it, having no clue what to do.

She pushed the buttons labeled 'unlock' and 'lock' to no avail.

Her hands started shaking. She shook out her fingers and continued, panic rising further up her throat, choking her.

Random number sequences and harder jabs at the 'unlock' button were getting no response except a soft beep and a red light flashing.

Rose's breathing grew shallower. She brushed her tears away with the back of her hand, struggling to see past the blinding blur.

"No. No." She whined, breathlessly.

Carol, Rick, T-Dog, Glenn. Their faces and voices echoed in her head as she could only guess as to who was behind the steel obstruction. Lori, Andrea, the kids, Daryl.

Rose started hyperventilating.

Desperate, blinded by fear, Rose staggered back to the middle of the door. Her hands balled up to fist and she began mindlessly beating her knuckles against the blast door.

Soft at first, her hands obviously not doing a thing but make a quiet thud with each thump. As her distressed panic consumed her, each pointless punch grew harder.

Splitting the skin on her knuckle, she didn't even hear Elliot approach behind her.

"Rose! What are you doing?! We gotta go! NOW!" His voice an angry scream at her back.

"Elliot!" She spun around surprised. She frantically grabbed onto Elliot's khaki wife beater and searched his eyes for an answer she knew he didn't have either. "They're in there! There's… someone in there!"

"Then we can't help them, Rose!" He yelled. "I can't get those doors open at the front. We have to find another way out." He looked away from her trying to think of a forgotten exit.

Rose turned away from Elliot back to the door.

"No Rose!" He grabbed her around her waist. "Now." Elliot scooped her up and carried her away from the steel blast door.

"NOOO!" She screamed, echoing down the corridors and falling on Elliot's deaf ears.

He dragged her away, towards the living space.

"Elliot! No!" Her bloodied fists beat in to his back and shoulder and anywhere she could land a punch.

He ignored her flailing and feverish attack, dragging her away from the room.

A mechanical hiss sounded and with a dull thud the blast door retracted into the ground.

Elliot and Rose stopped and turned to see Daryl emerge first. "COME ON!" He shouted back at the others in the room.

Elliot dropped Rose to her feet and turned back towards the appearing group.

Rose wiped at her face frantically and breathed a lungful of air as her oxygen deprived body tried to recover from her panic attack.

Elliot picked up the discarded duffel bag and followed Daryl, looking over his shoulder briefly to make sure Rose was with them.

The group ran towards the main exit, Elliot hoping more men would have a better chance at shattering the seemingly-invincible windows of the front of the building.

Entering the open, daylight-lit building entrance, Elliot dropped the duffel bag with the other a called to Shane to toss him the axe. "Doors are useless! Do the windows!" He yelled to Daryl, who was wielding the other fire axe.

The two men ran up the stairs and began swinging the axes hard into the shatter-proof glass. Each swing bouncing back hard and vibrating ignored pain into their hands and arms.

"Outta the way." Shane yells, cocking his rifle and aiming it for the window. Elliot and Daryl run back down the stairs, Shane shooting as soon as they were clear.

The rifle shot was loud and made direct contact with the glass. Nothing.

"Wait. Where is Andrea, Dale and Jenner?" Rose asked Lori, doing a quick count of the people in the large entry point.

She shook her head in reply and turned to see Carol offering a grenade to Rick.

"Oh!" Lori exclaimed tightening her grip on Carl and pulling him back behind a large column.

"Everybody get back!" Rick yelled as he approached the windows.

"Get down!" Shouted Glenn.

Rose curled up on the ground down the bottom of the stairs, her and Carol shielding Sophia.

The deafening boom, ringing in everyone's ears, was disorientating. Rose pulled Sophia and Carol to their feet and ushered them towards the blown out window.

Elliot and Rick helped everyone out the window, Daryl running out with his crossbow to keep any stray walkers at bay.

Pushing Rose out the window, Elliot looked around for Andrea.

He grabbed on to Rick who was about to follow his family outside. "Where is Andrea?"

"She was going to stay. Dale's talking her out of it." Rick answered back, guilt at leaving the two behind wracking his conscious.

"Stay behind? For what?" Elliot's face was a twisted sneer as he turned back to run to the computer room.

"Elliot!" Rick yelled at the disappearing man. He turned back to see his family, running towards the vehicle bank. Torn, he jumped out the window to be with his wife and child.

Ignoring the single cry from behind him, Elliot ran at his full speed back to the round room. Blood pounding in his ears and ticking through his pulse in his wrists.

He ran though the blast door way and stopped. Dale was sitting on a chair looking at Andrea on the ground.

"You don't get to do that." The older man explained. "Come into somebody's life, make them care, and then check out."

Walking slowly forward, Elliot's heavy footsteps on the metal ramp echoed around the circular room. Andrea sat up and turned to look at who had come back.

Elliot's face was disfigured by a mixture of anger and despair. Despite his hard features and rough facial hair, desperation wavered into his eyes.

Andrea glared a wet, angry stare at him and crawled to her feet. Dale stood up and she grabbed his arm.

With a last sorrowful look to Jacqui, Andrea pulled Dale and they ran with Elliot back to the exit.

…...

"Where the hell is he?" Rose screamed. "Rick?" She rounded on Rick as he ran forward to the RV.

"He's gone back to get Andrea and Dale." He answered, breathless as he took hold of his son and wife.

"Andrea?" Rose whispered to herself.

Rick shook his head, a hard pain behind his eyes.

Rose stood at the door of the RV as the Grimes family piled into the large vehicle.

"Ay! Get inside." Daryl called from where he was standing, a couple of cars back, beside the open drivers side door of his truck.

Rose glanced briefly back at him but held her ground next to the RV, looking back to the now ominous-looking CDC building.

Daryl followed her eyes and watched, waiting for Elliot to appear while Rose played chicken with the countdown timer.

Slamming his door closed, he jogged to the RV and stood beside her.

"They'll make it. No point standin' around." He grumbled. Daryl didn't look at her, just kept his eyes where she was watching, hoping that they weren't going to make a liar out of him.

Rose's hands were balled so tight in her folded arms, her short blunt nails pressed little crescents into her flesh. A minute of tense silence and extreme anxiety was enough to get Daryl pacing as he tried to decide what to do about Rose.

She was just standing there, waiting for time to run out. Cutting into herself and biting her lips.

Daryl looked up when she let out a ragged breath and a small whining noise.

Elliot, Andrea and Dale climbed down from the CDC window and ran towards the vehicles. The loud horn of the RV made Rose jump. Daryl grabbed her, having made a decision.

Hooking an arm around Rose's shoulders, Daryl dragged her to the back of the RV. Shoving her behind the back of the large vehicle, Daryl pushed his body against hers, restraining her against the rear wall. She turned her face away from the building, burying herself in Daryl's neck.

The intense heat vacuumed the oxygen from the surrounds of the CDC. An immeasurable cracking boom, deafening beyond anything any of them had ever heard before, and a brilliant flash of fire lit up the day. A rippling tremor shook the black bitumen road beneath Rose's feet, sending the vibrations and fear up her spine.

Stunning confusion and momentary disorientation made Rose's world close to a pinpoint. Her vision blurred and all she could make out was the ringing in her ears and the firm, warm body pinned against her own.

"Hey." His gravel voice cut through the buzzing sound. "You with me?"

Rose looked unseeingly at Daryl. He cupped her face and tried to pick up her eyes.

"You ok?" He asked again.

"Yeah." She answered breathlessly. Rose brought her hands up to his shirt, steadying herself as she felt a little light headed.

Daryl dropped his hands to her arms but kept his grip on her, stepping back to see if Andrea, Elliot and the old man were ok.

Elliot had dragged the other two behind the small wall of sandbags seconds before the air ignited behind them. He quickly got to his feet, checking that Andrea and Dale were okay, and looked for Rose.

Daryl caught his eye and pulled Rose forward so Elliot could find who he was searching for. With a short nod of thanks to Daryl, he turned back to help Dale stand up.

"It's okay. They made it." Daryl's course whispered words made Rose let go of the breath she had been unknowingly holding.

He walked her out from behind the RV, towards Elliot.

"No." She mumbled, looking from Elliot back to Daryl. She shook her head, and leant away from Elliot's direction.

Daryl frowned and looked back at Elliot. The man was standing there watching Rose and himself walk over. Catching Daryl's eye, Elliot shook his head slowly and jutted his chin towards Daryl's truck, telling the man to take her away from him.

Daryl didn't quite understand what was happening. Elliot and Rose had something weird between them, but it weren't any of his business.

"Come on then." Daryl grumbled, walking Rose to his truck.

Helping her into the passenger side seat, Daryl watched Elliot, Andrea and Dale climb into the RV. He jogged around to the driver's side and climbed in himself, starting the truck with a loud rumble from the overhead cam and loose exhaust. The truck's idling growl not too different from his own low grumbling voice.

Rose didn't say anything. She just sat back in the seat and watched Daryl as he moved the stiff column shifter into gear and followed Shane's jeep and the RV convoy away from the burning CDC and the plume of serpentine-like swirling black smoke.


	5. Chapter 5

"Yer van's got a taillight out." Daryl mumbled.

"Taillight huh?" Rose scoffed quietly. "I'll take it to the auto shop tomorrow."

Daryl looked at her out the corner of his eye, cynically. "Pfft." He smirked back at her sarcasm.

Rose had shrunk down in her seat, picking at her scabbed over knuckles, sitting so low she couldn't even see the van over the dash.

Rick had taken the RV past the rear parking lot of the CDC so Elliot could collect the green Econoline. It had taken up position in the convoy between Shane's jeep and Daryl's truck, as they moved to the outer edge of Atlanta.

Rose had her eyes closed, looking like she was trying to have a nap. Meanwhile her inside were a squirming snake pit of trepidation and distress.

_How can he be so calm?_

Daryl looked as if he was just driving to nan's house on Sunday. Like he hadn't just narrowly escaped the fireball that was possibly their last oasis of food and shelter in a world of monsters. She quietly hated him for that.

Not hated, envied.

She looked at him again discreetly out from under her lashes. He was just resting his arm on the window sill as he drove. Biting his thumb nail, the only tell that he had something on his mind.

"Here we go." He muttered, returning both hands to the wheel and pulling over to the side of the road.

The convoy had stopped in the parking lot of a chiropractor's office. The plan to rearrange vehicles for the long haul to Fort Benning.

125 miles away, moving at their slow pace, they were looking at a three day drive at best.

Daryl put the truck in park and killed the engine. Rose sat up and took off her seatbelt, trying the door to no result.

"Hol' on. Door's jammed." Daryl said, getting out his driver's side door. "I'll get it."

He walked around the front of the truck, looking over his shoulder at the group emerging from the RV. Daryl grabbed the external handle and lifted the door. With a hard tug, the door popped open and he held it open for Rose to get out, again looking at the RV.

"Don't worry." Rose whispered, behind a poorly hidden smirk. "No one saw you being a gentleman."

Daryl rolled his eyes and closed the door behind her. They walked over to the group, Daryl inconspicuously watching the expression on Rose's face as she saw Elliot climb out of the green van. She masked it pretty well, but he was definitely in her bad books.

Rick addressed the group at large from the bottom step of the RV. "Okay everybody. We're moving on. We need to put the CDC behind us and move forward." He emphasised. "Shane was right. Fort Benning is our nearest possible military outpost, and our best chance now. So lets regroup, sort out vehicles and get moving now. We'll be there in a couple of days, fewer if we can keep to the interstate."

"A'right, you heard the man." Shane said with a sharp clap of his hands. "Let get it movin' people."

"Rick." Daryl addressed the man, bypassing Shane who was closer. "I'm gonna ditch the truck. I'll take Merle's bike instead. Less fuel, and I can go up 'n scout ahead."

"Good idea Daryl." Rick validated. "If you need some room to store anything that won't fit on the motorbike, there is some space in the back of our wagon." He turned to Rose next. "What condition is the van in?"

"It's clean. Runs well." Rose nodded. "Not bad on fuel either, for it's age. Apparently it has a taillight out, but other than that…" She said with a smile in Daryl's direction.

"Ok. It may be good to have another solid vehicle in our convoy." Rick replied. "We'll keep it for now, but it's lack of seats makes it less useful with our group size."

Rose nodded her acceptance of Rick's statement. She didn't feel any real attachment to the dark green van anyway. "Tell Elliot." She added as Rick began to walk away towards the office building, pulling a handheld two-way radio off the back of his belt.

"You can tell him." The sheriff called back to her, a small conspiratorial smile on his lips.

Rose wasn't going to be telling Elliot anything. She was never going to say another word to him again, if she could help it.

Daryl turned back to his truck and started making himself busy, organising his gear and getting his bike off the back of the truck flat bed.

Rose walked reluctantly over to the green van and opened the side swinging doors. She climbed in the back and took stock of the vehicle's contents. Her and Elliot had lived in the back of this tin can for the last three weeks. It stunk a little, never getting a good opportunity to air out while they were on the road. Rose pushed the doors all the way open with her boot, taking advantage of the pit stop.

The thin mattress and pile of bedding was all shades of colours from weeks of passing out sleep in sweaty clothes and dirty boots. Her and Elliot always slept when they could, taking turns. One watches, one sleeps. Infrequent opportunities rose every couple of days, when staying awake simply wasn't a choice anymore.

Rose tipped the edge of the cardboard box that had housed their meagre food stocks, peering inside. Not much remained. Two cans of fruit and half a dozen protein bars, rolled around the bottom as she let the box tip back. Luckily she had thought to stock up from the CDC kitchen.

_Before it was vaporised. What a waste._

Sighing, Rose turned to the pile of clothes that would have to wait a little longer before they could get a wash. Most likely the main source of the funky odour. And lastly to the storage box behind the front seats. She lifted the lid and took stock of the last two boxes of 9mm bullets and Elliot's two spare M4 rifle clips. Only one of the two clips had any rounds left, and not many.

Sitting on the edge of the van's side step, Rose rubbed roughly at her face and pushed her palms into her eyes, trying to force away the dull ringing headache that had been in the back of her skull since the CDC explosion.

"Are you okay?" Carol asked, as she walked over, bottle of water for Rose in hand.

"Yeah. Just a bit crappy." Rose replied from behind her hands.

Carol placed the bottle of water beside Rose. Sliding her hands away from her face, Rose pulled a weak smile on to her face and thanked Carol. As the older woman turned and walked away, Rose stood up and took a big drink of water, hoping that her headache was just from dehydration and would go away with some fluids.

Rolling her neck and feeling her familiar crunch, Rose stretched and walked towards the chiropractor's office, planning to help Rick search the doctor's clinic for anything useful. And also because Elliot was walking towards the van.

Elliot had been discussing the best route with T-Dog, Shane and Glenn and a map spread on the hood of the Grimes family station wagon. As he walked back to the green van, he sneered at Rose making herself scarce. He was glad she was avoiding him.

"Is everything okay?" Dale walked up behind him and asked, watching Rose walk into the building.

"Fine on my end." Elliot grumbled, looking at the old man over his shoulder.

"And Rose?" Dale pressed.

"She's angry." Elliot answered. "That's a good thing." He closed the van doors and walked away to the driver's side, leaving Dale with more questions than answers.

…...

Rose looked around the small two story office building, not finding anything of particular use or interest. And not finding Rick either. Ascending the stairs, Rose noticed the roof access door was ajar and wedged open with a single brick.

As she got closer, Rose could hear Rick's voice on the other side of the door, talking to someone. Pushing the door open and walking outside, she caught Rick's eye but didn't interrupt his one-sided conversation.

"Stay off the road." He continued, looking back at Rose as she righted a stray lawn chair and sat down. "Keep moving. Keep your eyes open. I don't know. Just… just be safe." Rick emphasised. "Maybe we'll see you at Fort Benning someday." He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "Rick, signing off."

He switched off the two-way radio and turned it over slowly in his hands, looking at the silent black device but not really seeing it.

"Got friends out there somewhere Rick?" Rose asked with a soft grimace curled onto her lips.

"Hopefully." He replied, looking off towards the dead city behind them.

"I gathered the CDC was your idea." She sat back in the chair, studying her boots to give her anything to look at but Rick. "Mine too."

"Did you get what you were looking for?" Rick asked, turning back to face her.

Rose looked up at his eyes. He was clearly an observant man, who saw more in one glance than most would see if they were in a staring contest. He wanted honesty, and he probably deserved it. Rose shifted in her seat and sat forward before answering. "Yes. I needed…" She began quietly. "I needed to know that I didn't… that it wasn't murder. I needed to know that they were truly dead." Her eyes dropped momentarily to her hands, fighting the welling nausea before looking back at Rick. "What about you? Get what you came for?"

"I only want somewhere… to keep my family safe." He said slowly.

"We'll find it." Rose tried to sound reassuring as she stood up. She stepped forward and picked up Rick's hand. She repeated her words, trying to sound more sure of them. "We'll find it Rick."

…...

With Lori, Rick, Carl, Carol and Sophia filling the wagon, Rose contemplated her vehicle options. RV with Dale, Glenn, Andrea and Shane, van with Elliot and T-Dog, or (hopefully) pillion seat on Daryl's motorbike.

Obviously, having no memory of any previous motorcycles, Rose was a little curious and more that a little keen to take up the space behind Daryl on the over-the-top bike. Just as she was about to walk over to ask for a ride, Daryl started the bike and pulled forward.

He had seen Rose and noticed when she walked towards him on the bike. He walked the motorcycle forward a few steps before pushing off, catching Rose's eye and shaking his head with a small quirk of his lips.

Rose's mouth dropped open in silent mock outrage as she watched Daryl ride past her and off to the front of the convoy.

Mildly annoyed, Rose walked to the RV. There was no way in hell she was getting in that van.

"Hey." Glenn welcomed Rose with a small smile as she climbed the few steps into the mobile home.

"Hey." She returned. Rose looked down the back of the vehicle and turned back to Dale. "Anyone taking the bed?"

"It's not entirely safe to lay in the bed while the vehicle is moving." Dale replied, somewhat concerned.

"Nothing is safe anymore Dale." She grimaced. "But I won't if you don't want me to."

"Let the girl sleep Dale." Shane defended.

Rose smiled weakly at Shane and Andrea sitting at the table.

"Okay." Dale grumbled in a very old man kind of way, wagging his finger at her in the rear-view mirror. "Be it on your head."

"Thanks Dale." Rose mumbled, making her way to the bed in the back.

Rose kicked off her boots and lay down on the small foam mattress. The dull ache behind her eyes became a solid thud, thud, thud with her pulse, in her new reclined position. Her head felt like it was filled with lead as she pushed back onto the overstuffed pillow. She breathed a soft sigh and closed her eyes. Maybe it was good Daryl took off without her. How she felt right now would only have been made worse by the thump of the noisy engine and beat of the wind on her face.

**_*Hi guys. Just a brief thank you to Missing Pieces' early followers and favouriters, and to Sweetkiwi604 for the reviews._**

**_I don't want to be one of those writers that beg for reviews, but I would like to hear from you if you are feeling it. So this is my one and only request..._**

**_If you like my fic and how it is going, let me know time to time. It reassures an uneasy mind and makes it a lot easier to tap out a quality story and update quicker. Even just a smiley face can really be encouraging._**

**_Okay, that's enough now. Back to the keyboard._**

**_Thanks guys._**


	6. Chapter 6

"_Elliot, we can't stay here any longer." Rose closed her eyes, tired with this argument. "We have maybe a week left of food, if we stretch it thin. It's time."_

"_Rose, you don't have any fucking idea what it is like out there." Elliot hissed angrily._

"_Neither do you now. It's been weeks!" She slapped her hands down on the small card table. "Military bases. What did you say the other day… Fort Jackson?"_

_Elliot clawed at the back of his head. If he had hair he would be pulling it out by now._

_Rose put her hands to her face and rubbed softly at her eyes. "Look, I know okay? I know you don't want to see the military again, but honestly… I think they would welcome any able bodied man they could get. They'll understand."_

"_Fuckin' keep your mouth shut Rose. You don't know shit about the military." He walked slowly to the basement foundation column and pressed his head to the grey cinderblock pillar._

"ROSE!"

Rose's eyes shot open, but couldn't focus. The brown blurry caravan and flurry of activity in the crowded space only further confusing and disorientating the woman on the RV bed.

Andrea's whispered scream, and forcible shaking of Rose's shoulders, dragging her from her semi-conscious state. "Rose! Wake up!"

"Wha...? Wass happinin'?" She slurred.

"Rose. Thank god! You have been out for hours. The RV is surrounded by walkers!" Andrea hissed.

"What are you talking about? What hours?" Rose couldn't make sense of anything the blonde was rapidly saying to her. Trying to sit up, a wave of nausea and a thumping pound in the back of her skull made her vision blur again and the world spin beneath her.

"Rose, listen. You've been unconscious for hours. We're stopped on the interstate. A hose blew on the RV." Andrea's words were so fast and so many, Rose was hardly taking anything in past the tight pain in her temples. "Just now, a whole mess of walkers just appeared. You need to get up now!" Andrea dragged Rose up and looked back to the RV table, where Shane's gun lay in pieces.

Rose touched Andrea on the hand and nodded her head, telling her she was okay to sit without her assistance. Andrea moved quickly and collected up the disassembled gun in a cloth.

A bald, fetid corpse, that was once a tall man, stumbled up the RV steps spotting Andrea instantly and lunging forward.

Andrea quietly cried out, torn between panic and not wanting to draw the whole pack of walkers to them, and ran to the back. She shoved the sack of gun pieces into Rose's hands and pulled open the small pantry door, desperate to put anything between them and the gnashing monster.

The walker's rasping moan and frantic clawing hands tried desperately to grab at Andrea as she held the door as a shield as best she could. Rose's vision blurred in and out as she tried furiously to assemble the gun. She knew how. She didn't know how she knew, but she understood all the pieces and how they fit together. Hands shaking erratically and the world still spinning as her brain tried to coordinate her fingers, but not getting the message through straight.

Andrea silently screamed again as the clawing monster banged harder against the flimsy pantry door. Hands rattling, Rose managed to click the handgun's slide and spring into place on the frame.

_Just a few more seconds Andrea, please hold on!_

Looking up to Andrea, Rose dropped the gun's clip on the floor with a clatter, sending rounds rolling everywhere around the tight confines.

With a roar the walker made another lunging flurried attack on the RV pantry door, Andrea barely containing her fear as tears streaked down from her blue eyes.

A dull thump and small scuffle on the other side of the wooden shield and the walker suddenly fell to the floor. Andrea cried out in surprise as she fell forward with the closing pantry door. She landed on top of the crumpled corpse and quietly shrieked.

Rose watched as Elliot scooped up Andrea and pulled her away from the body, his knife dripping with gore from the skull of the _dead _dead monster.

"You're alright, you're alright." He soothed gruffly, barely glancing at Rose. "Calm down."

Rose swallowed back the nausea in her throat and placed the partially assembled gun on the foam mattress beside her.

Elliot helped Andrea back into the back of the RV over the dead body. "Stay in there, both a ya." He grabbed hold of the corpse by it's ankles and dragged it to the RV entrance. Closing the door, he wedged it shut with the corpse by dropping it in the small stair well. He kept low while he worked and looked out for any other interested monsters.

After a few minutes of quiet tension, the crowd of ghouls passed on in their shuffling mindless fashion. Elliot pulled the body out of the way and opened the RV door cautiously. Seeing it was clear, he turned back and nodded to Andrea and Rose, dragging the corpse out with him as he exited.

Rose had been fighting away small black stars that had been tunnelling her vision. She gripped Andrea's hand and the pair slowly left to join the others.

Heart pounding in her head, Rose was breathing slow deep breaths and taking small steps. She offered a weak smile to Andrea as she dropped her hand to hold onto the rail and climbed out of the RV.

A few people were crowded around Carol, who was standing at the freeway guard rail, peering into the woods.

"What's happened?" Asked Andrea, looking around to see who was with them and who was not.

Dale spoke as he climbed down the RV ladder. "Sophia was chased off by two walkers. Rick has gone after her. Is everyone else okay?"

"No." Daryl's gruff voice called out from the snag of cars they had been working through up front. "This guy's sliced himself open on a car door."

T-Dog shuffled forward, pressing his bloodied shirt to the inside of his forearm, Daryl walking behind him looking for walkers, crossbow still drawn up high on his shoulder.

Rose steadied herself and leaned against a nearby car, checking first to make sure there were no surprises inside.

Elliot walked over to a small pile of things that had been collected from the cars around them. He produced a small flask, a flannel cloth and some black electrical tape. Cleaning with the alcohol and field dressing T-Dog's wound, Elliot worked while everyone else just waited for Rick and Sophia's safe return.

"Good to see you're up and about." Glenn commented to Rose. "Are you okay?"

"Mm." Rose grunted. "Must have got a concussion somewhere between the grenade and the H.I.T explosion."

"Do you need anything?" Dale asked, concerned.

"Any water around?"

…...

Rick had resurfaced empty handed, returning back to the creek he had left Sophia in with Shane and Daryl.

Shane returned shortly after saying Daryl and Rick were following her trail and that everyone else should do what they could to be ready to leave when they returned with Sophia.

Elliot half listened while Andrea, Glenn and Shane discussed the large wandering pack of corpses, Andrea labelling it a herd. He watched as Rose started picking through the car she had been leaning against.

Rose had climbed into the small Toyota and rifled through the glove box and centre console, not finding anything of particular interest.

Reclining the car seat a little, Rose leaned back and closed her eyes again, trying to will away the ache behind her eyes.

Shane got the group moving again and asked that everyone pitch in, trying to get Carol's mind off the unknown happenings in the woods. Not that she could, even if she wanted to.

Rose sighed, got her ass into gear and dragged herself from the small Toyota.

"Always within my sight." Lori reaffirmed to her son as they all began working through the cars again. All except Carol.

Picking up a bottle of water and walking silently over to stand at Carol's side, Rose just looked out into the trees with the distraught mother, wordlessly removing the cap and passing her the drink. Carol took a small sip before passing it back to Rose, and returning to her sentry lookout.

"I only want her back." Carol uttered quietly, so quiet Rose wasn't even sure Carol was talking to her. "She is so young. Not just physically, I mean, she would only be scared and so afraid out there, she wouldn't know what to do."

Rose nodded solemnly, not having any words of comfort for Carol, only pity.

"Why didn't I go to her? Save her? What kind of mother am I?" Carol asked herself, blinking tears down her face.

Rose just stood by her side silently for a few more minutes, watching the trees. She looked past Carol and saw Lori, the other mother of the group, searching through a suitcase for clothes that would fit her family. A frown flittered across Rose's face as a thought occurred to her. She put her hand on Carol's shoulder and gave a soft squeeze before walking off down the highway.

Elliot had started taking a few of the office water cooler bottles from the delivery truck that Shane had discovered and was loading some into the Econoline.

Glenn and Shane were pulling spare parts off nearby cars.

Dale was on watch atop the RV with T-Dog and Andrea inside.

Carl, down the highway a bit, pulled open the driver's side door of a black F150 pickup. A large grey roll was balled up beside a decayed corpse, hatchet in hand.

The body wasn't moving, but the stench of rotted skin and death still gave a chill to the bones of him, as Carl stepped up to reach for the weapons.

"HEY!" Rose yelled, grabbing hold of Carl by the back of his shirt and tugging him from the F150's side step. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I was just getting something from this truck." Carl explained, tears welling in his startled wide eyes.

"Are you stupid or something?!" Rose asked incredulously.

"Hey!" Lori yelled, approaching the pair as Rose held Carl still by the back of his shirt. "Get your hands off my son. Don't you dare talk to him like that."

"Are _you _stupid?" Rose asked, rounding on Lori. Shoving the boy forward to his mother, she lowered her voice to a harsh whisper before continuing. "We just lost one kid out in the woods, now you're letting this one out of your sight so he can go play amongst the dead bodies. What the hell kind of mother are you?"

"What do you know about being a mother?" Lori looked down her nose at Rose as she turned and took her son back to the RV.

Rose shook her head and looked into the F150. With a scowl on her face, and a cautious eye on the putrefying body, Rose grabbed the tool roll and slammed the pickup's door closed as she walked off.

…...

Rick and Daryl returned as the sun started to get low in the sky. The orange glow of pale day's end matching the subdued tone and thoughts of the despairing group.

Carol, after lashing out at Rick, sobbed, as other busied themselves setting up for the night and getting a few cans of food out for dinner.

Dale rummaged through the RV draws and found the small cutlery stash. Daryl and Rick washed up with one of the 5 gallon water cooler bottles behind the van.

After a quiet dinner and a timetable was established for night watch, Rose found she didn't quite know what to do with herself. She had been excused from watch despite volunteering, because of her concussion and now stood beside the green van, contemplating another night's sleep within its confines.

"Elliot said it was a good idea to get up on the van's roof." Daryl suddenly materialised behind the distracted Rose. "You okay with that?"

"Yeah." She mused. "Use to it in fact. Elliot and I use to take turns watching and sleeping. It's not too bad up there." Rose stepped forward and opened one of the side doors, pointing up to the ceiling she continued. "This thing was customised and given a sunroof. If too many walkers appeared all of a sudden, you can drop down inside and drive away. Also having no windows in the back means you're pretty safe inside too."

Daryl nodded and stepped around to the front of the van, looking for the footholds to climb up the bumper.

"Okay." Rose got the hint. "Goodnight then." She smirked, not expecting a reply.

"Night." Daryl muttered, before hopping up the windscreen to the van's roof.

Elliot watched from the RV lookout as Rose got in and closed the van doors behind her.

"May I ask, why is it you're here and Daryl is on top of your van?" Dale inquired, making his way over to the ladder, rifle slung over his shoulder and preparing to turn in for the night.

"Just keeping my distance from her. That's all." Elliot replied, a dry smile on his mouth but not in his eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it son?" Dale stopped and turned to look at Elliot.

"Nothing to talk about." Elliot mumbled and idly spat over the edge of the RV.

"Okay, well, see you in a few hours then." Dale replied, still concerned about the discord between Rose and Elliot but letting it go for tonight.

…...


	7. Chapter 7

As the bleak, overcast morning light filtered through the overhead trees and projected a dappled, geometric carpet on the leaf litter beneath their feet, Rose rolled her neck and rubbed the sweat away from her eyes.

While the day wore on, tempers and patience wore thin. Andrea was huffy about something. Rick was quiet but his expression said he was punishing himself on the inside for every step they took down the shaded creek, further and further from the interstate. Shane kept to the rear, projecting an atmosphere that said 'leave me the fuck alone', a message that Carl clearly didn't understand.

Daryl and Elliot lead the way for the search party down the creek, Sophia's only landmark and the most likely place to find her.

Finding little else than a campsite, where a man had chosen to 'opt-out', and a church that held little more than a few dead and the holy spirit, the day was proving fruitless and hope shattering.

"We should keep going." Rose said to Rick and Daryl, out the front of the little white church. The group had been at the Baptist place of worship for some time now, waiting in hope that Sophia would have come following the sound of the pre-recorded tolling bells. "Or turn the bells back on and give them another ring."

"No." Rick replied. "We don't want to attract every walker within earshot if Sophia does come here. But you're right, it is time to move on. I'm going to talk to Shane real quick and then we will make a move." Rick turned and walked to Shane out in the open clearing in front of the church, leaving Daryl and Rose standing before the open double doors.

"There aren't as many walkers around as I was expecting." Rose commented, running her hand over the ornate wooden doors. "That's… promising. Isn't it?" She turned her eyes back to Daryl who was looking down the sight of his crossbow and checking the bolt was set right in the nook.

"Yeah. She'll be fine. Jus' hidin' somewhere." Daryl agreed, curtly. He turned to look inside the church and saw that Carol had finished praying. "Time to move people, come on."

After gathering out the front, Shane, Rick and, surprisingly Carl, set off on a different track, determined to push out a little further before returning to the interstate.

Elliot and Daryl again leading, Rose and Glenn bringing up the rear guard, the group set out to return along the opposite side of the creek that had brought them to the church. Aside from a small spat between Andrea, Lori and Carol, and Daryl snappin' at everyone to calm down and be 'zen', the second sweeping of the small river was as uneventful and futile as the first.

"Hol' up a second." Daryl mumbled, crouching down to look at what appeared to be just more dirt and leaves.

"Got something?" asked Elliot as he walked back to Daryl.

"Maybe something, maybe nothing." He mulled. Daryl stood back up and looked back up the creek, deep in thought.

"Well?" Andrea questioned, getting hot and tired from the walk in the Georgian sun.

Daryl sneered at Andrea before explaining. "Look, there's something here. Something fast and light broke through here recently. There ain't any prints cuza the leaf litter, so I can't say if it was a little girl or an animal."

"But not a walker, right?" Rose asked, her face a mask of determination.

"No." Daryl replied. "Small."

"Ok, you guys and Elliot go back to the highway." Rose pointed at the others before turning to face Daryl. "You and I will follow this and meet up back at the highway."

"We shouldn't break up any further." Lori chastised.

"'Sides, why you? I don't need a babysitter." Daryl scorned.

"Because blindly and silently following men and watching their backs is a favourite past time of mine, just ask him." Rose gestured to Elliot. "Been following him on his heels for weeks. And no one should be alone out here." Rose said before she even thought how that would sound to Carol. Hearing her own words, she closed her eyes tight, cursing herself, before turning to look at Carol with an apologetic shake of her head.

Carol nodded a silent forgiveness as Rose was offering to take off into the woods in search of her daughter.

"She's right. Anyway, what is it? Maybe another mile, if that, back to the interstate?" Elliot agreed, before turning to talk to Carol, Glenn, Lori and Andrea. "Come on. We'll keep to the creek. Get movin' ladies."

As the small group walked away, Rose turned to face Daryl, who was looking her over surreptitiously from his crouched position on the trail. She smiled at him, having got her way, which was not something that happened very often with Elliot. "Lead the way." She smirked.

…...

"Where is everybody? Is everyone okay?" Dale asked as Glenn, Elliot, Andrea and Carol walked up the embankment and stepped over the guard rail.

"Some woman on a horse just rode up outta nowhere, like Zorro, and took Lori." Glenn exclaimed, still a little taken aback from the quick encounter. "She told us to back track a little and we'll find their farm down the highway."

"She said Carl's been shot." Elliot explained. "Rick and Shane are already there at the farm."

"Oh my God." Dale said, shaking his head. "And Rose? Daryl?"

"Found a trail, maybe." Elliot said. "Taking the long way back."

"So what do we do?" Asked Glenn, turning to Elliot.

Not expecting to be put in the leadership role, Elliot was a little caught off-guard, giving Carol a chance to jump in. "I'm not going anywhere until we find Sophia."

"Of course not Carol, we're here." Dale comforted.

"The other two don't know about the farm yet anyway." Said Elliot, referring to Daryl and Rose. "We hang it up for tonight. Go out again tomorrow."

"We can't just sit here and let my baby spend another night out there alone." Carol bawled.

After a moment, Elliot asked, "Dale, we got any flashlights?"

"A few. But I don't think it is safe to search in the dark." Dale frowned.

"Not going out there Dale. We set up two points." Elliot explained. "Take a flashlight and rifle. One up here on the RV, the other, I'll get up there on that overturned truck. We aim the light into the woods to give Sophia something to walk towards, keep the rifles close in case anything else comes out first."

"Do you think that is safe? Drawing them out of the woods to us?" Andrea asked concerned.

"Better to us with the rifles than to Sophia." Elliot shrugged.

…...

"Sun's goin' down. Ya ain't afraid a the dark are ya?" Daryl asked as he climbed over a fallen tree and picked up the trail before them.

"Just the bogeyman." Rose replied, glancing back over her shoulder.

Travelling in silence, Rose and Daryl moved quickly through the woods, faster than Daryl had expected. She kept close to him and moved quietly, at one point he even forgot she was with him and got a bit of a fright when he looked back and saw her there.

"Can you track in the dark?" She asked in a quiet voice.

Daryl pulled a small flashlight out of his back pocket in response to her question. He stoped, clicked it on and pointed it at the ground in front of them. "Trail's pretty clear still. Keep going as long as we still have something to follow." He answered, looking at Rose over his shoulder.

"Good." Rose nodded slowly.

"You still into it?" He asked.

"Yes." Rose's voice had dropped to husky whisper. "We gotta find this little girl Daryl. She can't spend another night out here."

Daryl was quiet as they continued walking. Not normal Daryl quiet. He was distracted. There was something in the way he was breathing, and let himself get whacked in the face by an overhead thin branch as they walked.

"You okay?" Rose asked.

Daryl was quiet still. He walked a few more steps before he stopped and looked at Rose. His face wore an expression Rose didn't know Daryl had, turmoil. He was so calm usually. Always seeming like he knew what the next three moves were going to be. Now he looked like he was lost.

"Daryl, what's wrong?" Rose asked again, concerned.

"You really believe she's still alive out here?" He asked her, his voice so low it seemed to vibrate in the air around them.

"You don't? You were so confident earlier." Rose was a little more scared for Sophia now than she was a few seconds ago. Daryl bit at the inside of his mouth and feigned interest in the butt of his crossbow, rubbing his thumb along the course grip.

"Daryl," Rose stepped forward to him and put her hands on his forearm, the only comforting gesture she had in her playbook. "Something inside you thinks she is still okay. Otherwise you wouldn't have dragged me all the way out here, on this trail."

"I hardly remember having to drag you this way?" He scoffed at her words, looking at her small white hands on his tan arm.

Rose smirked back at him. "She's going to be fine Daryl. We just need to find her is all."

The way she said his name made him believe her. Her voice and words were seductive and soothing. More importantly, he _wanted _to believe her.

He looked Rose in the eye and gave her a small nod, before his gaze darted past her shoulder. Rose tensed and gripped his arm tighter. He moved his free hand gradually over hers and pulled her off himself, dragging Rose slowly to stand at his side. He raised his crossbow and fired a bolt with a quick 'fftt' sound, lower than what Rose was expecting. Stepping away towards his bolt at the base of a tree a few yards away, Rose suddenly felt the cool night air on her arms as Daryl took his body heat with him.

He had pinned a pheasant, a small ground-dwelling bird, and brought it back over to Rose. "Okay. A little warning next time." Rose said composedly. "What do we do with that?"

"Dinner." He replied, slinging his bow over his shoulder and pulling the bolt from the bird's side. "I'll get a fire goin'."

"Romantic." Rose quipped, making Daryl shoot her a dubious stink-eye.

The pheasant actual did turn out pretty good. Delicious even.

"So what's with you and 'Private Ryan' anyway?" Daryl asked breaking the silent meal.

"Do you have a specific question?" Rose asked, cocking an eyebrow at Daryl over the other side of the small glowing fire.

"You really hate him?" Daryl said past the bone he was picking bits of meat off.

"Yes." Rose replied bluntly. "There is layers and layers of hate for that man, all the way through me. Except for a thin veil of absolute trust and understanding, I hate him."

"Why?" Daryl pressed, puzzled.

"Just… being locked in a small room for 5 weeks, which felt more like 5 years… and other things." Rose summarised, not really giving away much. "He put the contempt in me."

"He doesn't seem that bad is all." Daryl said with a shrug. "Got a head on his shoulders, knows how to handle himself."

"You're not going a little 'Brokeback' on me, are you Daryl?" Rose teased.

"What? No!" He spat back. "And that's another thing…" He continued grumpily. "How come you can remember a movie from a few years ago, but cha can't even remember your own name?"

"I don't know how it works." She shrugged, feeling a little defensive. "I don't want to think about it either. I feel like every time I think about it I'm chipping away at a dam wall. And I don't want that dam to break, because I'm pretty sure what ever is on the other side of it will kill me." She was breathing heavy now. Rose looked at the ground, hiding her face.

Daryl watched her as she plucked at some grass beside her like it was the most interesting thing in the world. It's not like he was going to apologise or anything, but he felt like shit.

"We should keep movin'." Daryl said gruffly, getting to his feet.

"Yeah, okay." Rose dug the heel of her boot into the soft ground and broke up the soil a little. When she stood, she kicked the dirt over the dying fire and wiped her hands down the back of her loose black jeans. "Lead the way." She gestured with her hand, not quite looking at Daryl.

…...

The amber glow of a small fire, flickered around the circle of cars and melancholy faces. Elliot and Glenn had pushed whatever close cars available, and that were still movable, into a tight circle. Using the RV it was more of an odd-shaped D. The circle shielded the small flame and gave them a sense of security, of walls, while they sat and ate dinner.

Dale, feeling like it was his purpose and duty to keep morale up, was trying to engage others in light conversation. No one was biting. Glenn spoke with him for a little, describing the woman on the horse who beat in the skull of a walker with a baseball bat and then rode off like the 'Lone Ranger', but even he was starting to wain to the downhearted mood of the half-group.

When Dale finally turned the conversation toward Elliot, almost as a last hope, the younger man took pity on his efforts and decided to answer a few questions the man had asked.

"So Elliot, despite having know you for a few days now, we still don't know much about you. Where are you from?" Dale asked, optimistically.

"Charlotte, NC." Elliot engaged. Noticing a few heads lift and turn his way in interest, he continued. "My whole life, 'cept basic training in Fort Jackson."

"And where did you meet Rose?" Dale pressed further, happy that someone was finally talking.

"Charlotte." Elliot looked at the ground between his feet, shuffling around some loose gravel with the toe of his boot. His eyes turned to his standard issue military boots and sighed. "It ain't hard to tell, I was in the military." He continued struggling against the sick heat in his stomach. "Don't know if you heard much about the shit that was happinin' with the military, but it was bad. So I deserted and went home to find my mom and my sister. Didn't find 'em of course, the city was gone. Without any structure or FEMA or anything there, that city fell apart fast." He shook his head softly, closing his eyes. "Anyway, the streets were empty. Just dogs and dead things. I found Rose in the back of a car I was gonna take to get outta there. Just lyin' on the back seat, not doin' anything, just… giving up. She hadn't eaten for days by the look of her. So, I got her into this restaurant nearby and found some food in a basement storage. It was still early then, Charlotte went down so fast no one had time to clean out the place."

"That was lucky." Andrea commented.

"Not really. I shoulda noticed the name of the restaurant that I chose, before I trapped us in there. 'The Better-Earth Option'. Place was a fuckin' vegan restaurant. The pantry was stocked with all chickpeas and those fuckin' little red and green bean things."

"Legumes." Carol spoke up for the first time.

"You were trapped in there?" Glenn asked.

"Yeah. I wasn't careful enough." Elliot nodded. "I did a 'T-Dog' and cut open my leg on a piece of car, left a blood trail the whole way to the basement door. The fuckers were drawn to it like sharks."

"Shut up man." T-dog drawled, tired and slow.

"And they didn't go away either. Five fuckin' weeks we were trapped down there. Pissin in a bucket, eatin' vego shit."

"Rose did mention something about familiarity." Andrea murmured.

Elliot nodded subtly, looking again at his boots. "Anyway. We was goin' bat-shit crazy down there, we got to a point where a knife fight was on the cards. Had to get outta there, 'fore we killed each other. She said military points. Not my first choice. We got out as soon as the hoard died off and found the van. Travelled South to Fort Jackson, in Columbia. Nothing but dead. Same at McEntire National Guard Airbase." Elliot scratched at his eyebrow with his thumb, keeping his eyes on the ground. "Next stop was Fort Gordon in Augusta, the interstate 20 was our best option, made good time, plenty of cars to pick over and gas up our van. We get to Fort Gordon and there is a big sign out front. 'All dead. Go to Atlanta Refuge and CDC'. Why not? We came this far. So we stayed on the 20 and I'm sure you can work out the rest."

"So there isn't anything out there then?" Glenn asked, dejected.

"I didn't say that. Shit, I only tried three places. Fort Benning is still a good plan." Elliot affirmed, a lot less confident than his words portrayed him as.

"Here, here." Dale remarked. "Well it's pretty dark now. Shall we put your plan into action Elliot?"

"Yeah, sure." Elliot said slowly, getting to his feet. "Dale, you seem to like that rifle a yours but how's your night vision?"

"I'm old, but I'm not that old. I'll be fine." Dale nodded.

"Still, probably should have someone else up there anyway." Elliot replied.

"I'll come up with you Dale." Glenn offered with a sigh.

"Good." Elliot nodded, still a little surprised any of them were actually listening to him. "Alright. I got the truck. Rest of you, get some sleep." He said crunching out the softly flickering fire with his boot.

"Wait. Shouldn't you have someone else with you too?" Andrea asked Elliot.

"Nah, I got it." He dismissed.

"Sure? I could come with you." She suggested. "I don't know if I can shoot a rifle but I can wave a flashlight around some trees."

Elliot smile a little to himself before pulling the flashlight that Dale had given him earlier from his back pocket. He clicked it on and off, looked it over, and tossed it to Andrea. "Come on then." He said, turning and walking to the truck.

Elliot helped Andrea climb up the truck with a boost, and pulled himself up after her. They settled in, facing the trees and Andrea began waving the torch back and forth over the woods.

It wasn't long before Andrea struck up the conversation again.

"So…" She began, drawing out her words with a clipped smile. "The question on everybody's lips is… what's up with you and Rose?"

"You gonna tell everybody?" Elliot asked, not looking at Andrea, just off into the trees. "Or is this gonna stay between you and me?"

Andrea looked at Elliot and made a small zipper-motion across her lips.

Elliot watched her out the side of his eye, sighed and leaned back on his palms. "Fine. Like I said she was half-dead when I found her, given up." A small sneer twisted onto his lips as he continued. "I got food into her but she just didn't have the will to live. I tried talkin' with her, pleading with her… Fuck, I even tried singing Eric Clapton to her. Nothing! Finally I lost it and started screaming at her. Tellin' her she was a worthless piece a shit and other stuff. To my surprise she actually started to respond. So I went with that."

"Went with what?" Andrea said shaking her head, not comprehending.

"Getting her mad, making her live to spite me. If that's what she needed to keep going." He shrugged. "Got pretty heated after a while." Elliot stopped at that. It sounded to Andrea like he wanted to say more, but wouldn't.

"Hmm." Andrea marvelled. Not what she was expecting. "So you're not such a bad guy, once somebody gets to know you?"

Elliot smirked at Andrea, briefly glancing at her with a short chuffed grin. "Get to know me and find out."

_***Finally, some answers. Just wondering... do you guys like Elliot? I know how I feel about him because of future plot. So I'm not sure if I am conveying him right.**_


	8. Chapter 8

_Got bit_

_Fever hit_

_World gone to shit_

_Might as well quit_

The dead poet's words kept circling around Rose's mind. Sometimes, when you say something over and over again in your head, it looses it's meaning and just becomes a line of strung out empty words. That wasn't happening yet.

"That dead guy still botherin' you?" Daryl asked, looking back over his shoulder.

"Just his poem." Rose replied.

Daryl mumbled under his breath. "Dumbass didn't know enough to shoot himself in the head."

"I hope Sophia didn't see it." Rose sighed sombrely. "These woods seem full of people offing themselves."

Daryl didn't have an answer. He just bit at his thumbnail and continued on the trail. Ten or so minutes later, Daryl stopped suddenly and put his hand up for Rose to be on guard. Rose stuck close to Daryl as he stepped forward, eyes on something on the ground in front of them.

A red stain, wound like a snake in the dirt, following the slope of the slight hillside. The trail ended at a small pile of bones, guts and hooves. An alter in the dirt, of death and pain.

A small deer. Not Sophia.

"Well that answers that." Daryl said, despondent.

"Fuck." Rose barely expressing the way she felt inside.

_World gone to shit_

_Might as well quit_

…...

"Lotta help you were." Elliot muttered, smirk on his lips.

Andrea woke, confused as to where she was and what she was wearing. She looked around blankly, and ran her fingers along the dark denim of her blanket, Elliot's jacket.

"I fell asleep?" Andrea asked.

"Yeah, little after 3am." Elliot stood up on the truck and stretched his legs.

The very edge of the earth was highlighted by pre-dawn sun. Andrea sat up and handed Elliot his jacket back, feeling the cool air prick at her skin after loosing it's warmth.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Andrea chastised.

With a shrug, Elliot replied, "Looked like ya needed it. I had this covered." He pointed behind Andrea to the highway past the RV. "Check it out."

Daryl and Rose made their way down the stretch of interstate, weaving between the cars.

No Sophia.

Rose was both thankful for seeing the RV, and dreading it. Dreading having to tell Carol they were returned without her little girl.

"Daryl stop." Rose hissed. They were still about 50 yards from the tight circle of cars when Rose decided she had to talk to him. Daryl turned to face her, curious. "Daryl, you can't tell anyone else what you told me. You can't tell Carol you're losing hope." She elaborated. "I know it's not fair, but everyone is looking to you to find her. They don't have any clue… I don't have any clue how to find her. So everyone has to believe that it is you who knows how. I _believe _you will find her. You have to make sure Carol believes in you too."

Daryl squinted at Rose and bit at the inside of his cheek. Her words making something in his chest hurt like a bitch.

"Once you give up," Rose continued quietly. "They all give up. Especially Carol. And she can't give up on her little girl."

Rose's eyes were tired. Tired from a night of walking the woods at his back. But the grey, the endless grey, of her sharp eyes seemed to find the centre of him. Soul searching eyes.

Daryl made no sign he heard her as he turned back towards the RV. Rose pulled her mouth in tight and hoped that he would not go back there and shatter Carol's hopes.

Carol came out from the RV as Daryl hopped over the bonnet of the Toyota that Rose rested in the day before, climbing into the car circle. "Anything?" She asked hopeful.

Daryl took his confidence from Rose's confidence. "Not this time, it wasn't her. But we're gonna find her okay?" He answered before looking around the circle.

Carol nodded a small wet, pitiful agreement and turned to go back into the RV.

"Rick ain't back yet?" Daryl asked no one in particular.

…...

"_You ain't worth shit, Rose. You're just another dumb bitch, and it's only a matter a time before you are gonna be walking around out there with the rest of those dumb bitches."_

"_Fuck you. …And stop calling me that fucking name."_

"_You just might as well quit, Rose."_

_World gone to shit._

Serenity. Green hills and open spaces. The quiet peace of the unspoiled land and cool clean morning breeze had lulled Rose to sleep where she sat under a tree. Her unrelenting dreams waking her before long.

After Rose and Daryl were brought up to speed by Glenn and Dale, packing up camp and promising Carol the search was _not _over, the group organised and moved to the Greene farm.

Rose had discreetly yawned her way through the memorial for a guy named Otis. The man had sacrificed himself to save Carl, helping Shane get the medical equipment necessary for Hershel to operate. And she hated herself again because she couldn't keep her eyes open during the service.

Now having caught up on a little sleep, not much, but some, Rose got up and walked over to the front of a car where Rick, Elliot, Daryl, the old guy Hershel and his daughter Maggie were pouring over a map. She pulled her hair back from her face, working it into a braid and tying it off with a rubber band.

"Wait, we're talking about the search? Why didn't anyone come get me?" Rose asked, upset and annoyed.

"You clearly needed your rest." Rick said solicitously.

"Well I'm fine now. Where are we searching?" She replied curtly, looking to Daryl.

"You ain't going anywhere." Daryl shot in. "I'm better on my own."

Rose scoffed angrily at Daryl's rejection. "I'm not sitting around on my ass while Sophia is out there still."

Rick sighed and turned to Daryl, pinching his nose between his eyes, fighting against his headache and speaking quieter. "You sure you don't want anyone else out there, watching your back?"

"Positive." Daryl pronounces slowly, looking Rose dead in her eyes.

Rick looked back to Rose, and then to Elliot beside him.

"You wanna search for that little girl," Elliot spoke to Rose and shook his head softly. "you can come with me back to the church."

A few moments of 'stare-off' and Rose tapping her fingers on the bonnet of the car, she finally made her choice. "Fine."

"Get your shit then." Elliot challenged her.

Rose turned and stomped off towards the van to get her 9mm and a water bottle.

Rick and Daryl looked at Elliot's face while he watched her leave. He looked back at them each with a cocked eyebrow before rolling his eyes and shaking his head slowly.

"You aren't going kill each other out there, are you?" Rick asked.

"Nah. Made it this far didn't we?" Elliot smirked back.

…...

"So what did you do to the hillbilly?" Elliot asked the woman in front of him, as they walked parallel to the muddied, drying up creek bed.

"Don't call him that." Rose shook her head, watching the ground in front of her.

They had been walking in silence for about half an hour, but it never took Elliot many words to piss her off in the past, and nothing had changed much.

Rose looked around, turning on Elliot. "He actually likes you. Said you aren't such a douche bag."

"Pfft. Fag." Elliot scoffed before idly spitting into the bushes.

Rose shook her head to herself, wondering why she bothered to talk to him at all.

"So? What did ya do?" Elliot repeated, smirking, loving pushing Rose's buttons.

"I didn't do anything." She snapped at him. "Just fucking walk, will you? Shut up."

Rose continued on the narrow bushy animal track with Elliot at her back. Brushing past ferns and bushes mindlessly.

_What did I do?_

Elliot wasn't the only one who picked up on Daryl's cooler attitude towards Rose this morning. Not that Daryl was exactly a warm and friendly guy, but he actually seemed angry at her when she asked to go with him again.

The day was heating up again. Sticky humid heat of the southern states as the Georgian sun cooked the air. Rose was just regretting her jeans and boots, when they finally found the edge of the clearing for the Baptist church.

Rose started breathing heavily and praying that Sophia wasn't here.

The church's new congregation of 15 or so walking corpses, shambled around the open grounds near the double doors. Assembled like a pack of ghostly and morbid parishioners attending mass. Rose's skin crawled.

"We should clear it out." Elliot grumbled, looking at the same scene as Rose. "In case she does find her way here. Give her somewhere safe to go."

Rose knew he was right, but they hadn't faced a pack like this since McEntire. She put her hand to the 9mm in the back of her jeans as the dread rose up in the back of her throat, constricting her breathing and nauseating her slightly.

"No." Elliot said softly, stopping her from drawing her weapon. "Rick said no guns. We don't want to draw more of them towards us, or the farm."

"What?! How are we going to do this then?" She asked, glaringly.

Elliot crouched down and dragged his khaki canvas backpack off, opening it at his feet. He pulled out a hatchet and machete, the ones from the weapon roll Carl had found in the F150. "Remember Charlotte?"

"Fuck." Rose sighed, closing her eyes and wishing she hadn't asked.

…...

"Oh no." Glenn groaned, looking through the binoculars at the tree line. He was relieving Dale on watch after returning from town with Maggie. The low glow of late afternoon sun, lit up the field beyond the fence line and Glenn could make out the returning silhouetted figures, struggling through the hay paddock.

"What is it Glenn?" Andrea asked, looking up at him from the bottom of the RV. Carol emerged from inside to look to their return.

"Elliot and Rose." He replied. "Looks like one of them is hurt, limping. Go get Rick and Hershel." Glenn put down the binoculars and moved quickly to the ladder.

"Sophia?" Carol asked quietly.

Glenn shook his head softly, pressing a small grimace to his lips. Carol turned and walked back into the RV, returning to her cleaning.

Jogging out to meet them, Glenn put his arm under Rose's shoulder, helping her walk, taking her weight from Elliot. Sweat was beading down her face and a painful contorted scowl marred her face each time she put load on her right knee.

She shoved Elliot away, unbalancing her and Glenn. "Get your damn hands off me!" Rose yelled at Elliot, now that she was free of her need for his help. She winced as her and Glenn stumbled slightly but continued hopping towards the farm.

"What happened?" Glenn asked, struggling to keep Rose upright.

"Just get me back." She growled.

Elliot stepped in front of them, shaking his head. They walked steadily forward, Rick and Hershel meeting them at the fence.

"Are you okay?" Rick asked, looking at the surly and hurting Rose.

"Have you been bit?" Hershel asked, despite seeing no blood.

"No, nothing like that." Elliot answered for her. "Ass-Clown here took a fall off one of the church pews she was trying to 'parkour' over." He said laughing at her.

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Rose screamed at Elliot, swiping a fist at him. She turned to Rick, who was slightly taken aback by her aggression towards Elliot. "Church was full of dead, again. More." She emphasised. "We cleared it out so Sophia would have somewhere to go."

"And your leg?" Hershel asked.

"I was running across the pews and fell." The angry woman glared at Elliot, who in all fairness, deserved everything she gave him for teasing her about her fall the whole way back to the farm. "Landed on my knee pretty hard."

"Well, we'll get you back inside and take a look at it." Hershel offered. "Lets pray it's not too badly damaged. I'm not exactly set up to perform a knee reconstruction."

…...

"You're a determined woman, aren't you?" Rick said quietly from his seat outside the door of the farm house.

The evening had inked out the sky and Rick had been deep in thought when suddenly Rose had come limping out of the house. Hershel had strapped up her knee in a splint, and yet here she was about to attempt the front steps of the house, unaided. Rick got up and moved to her side.

Rose had been about to push away his hand when she realised just how tired she actually was. The adrenalin and anger had seeped from her system with the assistance of Daryl's brother's painkillers. She sighed and let Rick help her down the stairs. He put his hand around her waist and guided her forward. Rose didn't answer him, she just wrapped her hand around the crook of his elbow and awkwardly hopped down the steps.

She had showered and Rick could smell the soft scent of lavender soap in her hair as he held her close. "Are you okay?" He asked her at the bottom of the stairs.

Rose answered him with a slight shrug and a tired gaze, before she swayed slightly forward.

"Whoa, hold on. Should you be up and about?" Rick was concerned about the way she seemed faint.

"I'm fine." She said quietly. "…Rick." She added his name as an after thought as she worked out who was beside her.

"No you're not." He said, sitting her down on the steps behind them and turning her face to his. "Oh." realisation hit Rick and he sat down beside her, smirking a little. "You're high."

Having not actually eaten anything all day, Merle's strong painkillers had hit her system hard and fast.

"And you are a cop." She smiled softly to herself.

"Not anymore. I don't think you should leave the house tonight." Rick said idly, looking back over his shoulder to see if there was anyone around who could help him get her back inside. They were alone.

"Oh." She looked at him. "Where's the uniform gone?" Rose's words were quiet, but she was managing to get her brain back in order.

"It's just gone." He replied dryly. "Not much need for it anymore."

"You don't need it anyway." She smiled at him. "You have that something about you Rick. Inside you. I don't know what it is… leadership, I suppose. It makes people trust you, makes me trust you."

Her words and conduct ware so divergent to her earlier behaviour. She was calm and serene, sweet and pretty in the cool evening, and fiery and almost frightening in the day's sun.

"And you are a strange woman." He remarked quietly, not even sure she heard him.

"Strange. Determined. Any other adjectives you want to throw at me." She quipped.

"Oh, you are listening." Rick replied, surprised.

"How am I strange?" She asked looking out to the quiet farm in front of them.

Rick considered his words before he spoke. He looked down to her hand which had found it's way back to the inside of his arm and smiled. "You look like a nice lady, somewhere around her mid-thirties. Pretty eyes, soft features… and then you have this whole other side to you." He said shaking his head and smiling to himself. "This attitude and temper. You are like a stubborn and belligerent teenager." He emphasised and looked at Rose.

"Well," she smirked, Rick feeling her shrug against his shoulder. "Consider this… The only person I know, or at least, have any memories of, is Elliot." She scoffed at her own words, Rick laughing a little to himself. "A 24 year old ex-marine and an asshole to boot. I can't help that he seems to have rubbed off on me a bit."

"True." Rick commented. "Fortunately, I think you are more than that." He patted her on the hand before getting up and helping her to her one foot. "Come on, lets get you back inside. Where were you going anyway?" He questioned.

"I actually don't remember." Rose hissed as she tested her bad leg.


	9. Chapter 9

Rose was sitting at the picnic table that the Greene's had moved next to the group's campsite. Her knee was aching with a dull throb but she was able to move around on it better today, now that she had a walking stick supplied to her by Hershel. Knee still strapped up tight, she had been instructed by the doctor not to use it too much or he would take the cane back.

Everyone was making themselves busy around her, leaving Rose to just sit and feel useless. Desperate to know what was going on with the search and all the other farms comings-and-goings, Rose had snared Glenn and made him sit with her. He filled her in about the walker in the well yesterday and the trip he took with Maggie to town, being surprisingly light on the details, not that Rose really cared about a pharmacy run. She pressed him for information about the search for Sophia.

"Daryl found a house yesterday." Glenn answered. "He said that someone had been there recently. He found an empty can of sardines and make-shift bed in a closet, big enough only for someone small, like Sophia."

Rose breathed out a soft, tight puff. Relief replacing the tight constriction in her chest. "Good. And what is happening today?"

"Rick and Shane, Andrea and T-Dog, and Elliot and Jimmy are breaking off to grid search the most likely area she will be in." Glenn explained. "And Daryl is taking a horse up to a ridge because he thinks he will be able to see her better from up higher."

"Oh that is so good to hear." She sighed. "We are going to cover so much ground today."

"What do you mean 'we'?" Elliot scoffed as he walked behind her towards the Econoline, not even breaking his stride. "You ain't doin' much."

Rose already felt bad enough. She picked up the pit from the peach she had eaten for breakfast and threw it at Elliot, missing him as he skipped out of the projectile's way.

"Asshole." Rose muttered under her breath. She looked up to see Glenn watching Maggie walk around the side of the farm house towards the chicken coup. She put her elbows on the table and rest her head in her hands, waiting for Glenn to notice. He turned around and saw her watching him, a big smile pressed to her mouth.

"What?" He asked sheepishly.

"Nothin'." She smiled back, like the Cheshire Cat.

He stood up and looked around, like he had somewhere to be. "I'm gonna go…"

"Talk to Maggie?" Rose supplied. "See you later." She said putting her hands back on the table, dismissing him.

She watched as Glenn took off, trying to look casual, after Maggie. Breathing another sigh, she looked around her at the empty camp. Lori and Carol, who had hung out the laundry were making their way into the house to ask if they could cook dinner for everyone tonight. Elliot was walking over to Rick and the rest of the search party at the fence line. Only Dale still hung around, holding up his sentry duties on top of the RV.

Looking back over her shoulder, Rose saw Daryl walking off towards the horse stables, crossbow slung across his back.

He hadn't so much as looked at her since yesterday morning. She was determined enough to want to know why. Picking up her cane and getting to her feet with a wince, Rose worked her way to the stables after Daryl.

Slightly out of breath when she rounded the stable doors, Rose saw Daryl beside a chestnut brown mare, gearing her up for the ride.

Hopping into the stable, Daryl looked up briefly at her before returning to the horse.

"Hm." Rose said mildly. "Saddle, reins, bridle, girth strap." She named the equipment Daryl had placed out of the workbench. "Turns out I know something about horses." Rose sighed, getting no response from Daryl, and limped over to stand beside him. She put up her hand and pet the horse high on its shoulders, quietly stroking. The horse tipped its nose and turned to Rose, Daryl turning his back and picking up a blanket.

When he came back over and placed the blanket across the horse's back, Rose tried again to make conversation, facing Daryl. "It's a strange thing, …finding out something about myself I didn't know."

"Will you get outta here. I got things to do." He snapped at her, turning to pick up the saddle.

Rose twitched a little before looking away, back to her stroking of the horse's withers. "Have I done something to offend you?" She asked frowning.

"Look, what do you want from me?" Daryl asked, angrily placing the heavy leather on the mare's blanket. "You were right, okay? She is still alive out there. I'm gonna find her. So get lost and leave me alone."

Rose dropped her hand from the horse and hopped back, out of Daryl's way as he buckled the horse's girth. He stood back and sneered at her before picking up the bridle and reins.

"Ya jus'… put all that shit on me and then left it up to me to look after that woman." He snapped at her again. "Now I'm …taking her flowers and shit, tryin' to make her _feel _better, while I'm the asshole who was about to give up on her daughter. That little girl is still out there, found her hiddin' spot yesterday." He explained, spitting his words angrily at Rose.

Rose just watched him fly off the handle at her. It was nothing compared to the rage she had faced from Elliot, but it seemed to hit her harder, hurting something in her stomach. Guilt maybe.

"Now get the fuck outta here so I can go find her." He said, turning back to the horse.

Rose nodded slowly to herself, before she turned and hopped out of the stables.

_Fuck him. Even if he is right._

She had put it all on him, built him a cross to bear. And, even as they got to day three of Sophia being out there alone with flesh-hungry monsters, he was more sure than ever he would find her alive.

Rose knew she had power in her words. Despite Elliot's fear of returning to the military, she had still managed to convince the aggressive and stubborn man to take her to several military bases, including the one where he had completed basic training. Now she had incited a duty in Daryl to find Sophia, one that he believed in so much he hated Rose for.

Rose limped her way back to the picnic table and sat, resting her head forward on the rough-sawn wood.

"Are you okay Rose?" Dale asked, approaching her side and taking a seat beside her.

"No." She replied flatly, forehead still pressed to the wood. "Apparently I am a magical word-smith who can provoke men to go to war for me."

"Doesn't sound like such a bad talent." Dale comforted.

"…And then they hate me for it." She added.

"Well, I don't know about going to war, but I can go grab you a book to read from the RV if you like?" He suggested, patting her on the shoulders.

Rose lifted her head off the table and smiled plainly at Dale. "Thanks Dale, that would be nice."

"Okay. You just rest up and I'll be right back." He said getting up.

"Dale?" Rose called as he was walking towards the camper.

"Yes Rose?" He turned back to face her.

"Dale," Rose ran her fingers through her hair and looked back at the older man. "When I do ask you to go to war for me, don't hate me for it."

…...

Lunchtime came and Rose couldn't stand another line of Dale's book, Ernest Hemmingway's "The Sun Also Rises". The agonizing story of spiritual disillusionment and unrealised love after World War I, just made Rose feel worse and worse with every sentence.

Discarding the book and trying to put her disenchantment aside, Rose looked to the house and considered offering Carol and Lori a hand with dinner preparation. Picking up her cane, Rose got to her feet and lumbered clumsily towards the farm house.

After struggling with the stairs and stumbling slightly, sending a rocketing pain through every nerve in her leg, Rose swore under her breath and hobbled into the house. She looked to the door on her left and realised another option for the afternoon instead of peeling potatoes. Rose scooped up a checker board and bag of pieces that were resting on the shelf of the small book case in the living room and hopped forward into the front bedroom.

"Hey." She said with a soft knock on the door. "Want some company? I've got checkers."

"Sure." Said Carl, a little apprehensive.

Rose limped into the bed room and placed the board and bag on a small table beside Carl's bed.

"You know how to play?" Rose asked the boy as he sat up a little. She helped him up slowly and stuffed a pillow behind his back.

"Yeah." Carl said, tipping the pieces out onto the table as Rose pulled a chair up.

"Good, 'cause I don't." She smiled.

…...

Rick, returning from his search for Sophia, sought out Carl to spend some time with him. He entered the bedroom and spied Rose in the chair beside the bed.

He knocked gently and entered. "What's happening here?" Rick asked quietly.

"I don't know dad." Carl grinned. "We were playing checkers and Rose fell asleep. She said it was a boring game and closed her eyes… and just fell asleep."

Rose snored softly, leaning back against the hard wooden back of the chair.

"How long she been like that?" Rick asked smirking at Rose's uncomfortable posture.

"Maybe 20 minutes." Carl shrugged. "Should I leave the game set up? Do you think she will want to play some more later"

"Tell you what. I'll get her into her bed and we'll start a game together." Rick suggested, moving to Rose's side.

"Aww man. I was winning too." Carl moaned. Rick smiled and gently shook Rose's shoulder.

"Hey. Come on." Rick whispered. "Lets get you to bed."

Rose stirred and took hold of Rick's hand. "Mmm." She said, eyes still closed against the bright daylight filled room.

Rick helped her to her feet and put her arm around his shoulder. They shuffled from the room and out the house, Rose moaning when she looked at the stairs.

"How about we just put you on the couch instead." Rick said turning her around.

Still a bit groggy from her uncomfortable nap, Rose asked. "Hey, what happened with your search?"

"No Sophia." Rick said, lowering his voice. "Shane and I had a long chat though."

"Yeah?" Rose asked, waking up sensing Rick needed to talk. "What about?"

Rick lowered her to the couch and sat beside her. He sighed and looked at his interlaced fingers in front of him. "You said you trust me the other night. Did you mean it or was it just the pain killers?"

"I meant it Rick. Jeez, I wasn't that out of it." She replied, scoffing at his words.

"Shane thinks I am making the wrong call." Rick explained. "Spreading us too thin looking for Sophia, instead of just staying strong as a group all together on the farm. Safety in numbers."

Rose scratched at her hair and rolled her neck with a soft crunch. "Shane is lacking perspective. He doesn't share your point of view because he doesn't know what it is to be a parent. He can't understand what it is like for Carol, not knowing if her baby is alive or… otherwise." Rose finished bleakly.

"But you understand why, don't you?" Rick asked, turning to look at Rose.

"Yeah." Rose agreed. "Maybe it's a womanly, maternal thing. Shane ain't exactly maternal."

Rick scoffed at Rose's words. Satisfied with her answer, he got to his feet and looked back to Carl's room. "No he is not."

"Go be with your son Rick." Rose said, laying back on the seat beneath her. "I'll look after the couch."

…...

The hushed voices of Hershel and Maggie arguing woke Rose again. Rose pulled her feet back from the end of the couch, not wanting to be seen as eavesdropping. She tried not to listen but the pair in the dining room weren't making it easy for her.

Maggie finally trying to put an end to the argument, hissed quietly at Hershel. "I'm a little old for us to be having this conversation."

Rose tried to make herself invisible, not being able to tell if Maggie was walking towards her or away.

"Don't get too close to them." Hershel warned his daughter. "They're not going to be around forever."

She attempted to melt into the couch as Hershel's words played back and forth in her mind, trying to see if there was any other way to interpret his warning.

The words sounded final. Rose needed to tell Rick of Hershel's intentions. That their time at the Greene farm was limited.

…...

Elliot walked back into camp with Jimmy. They had taken the long way back after Jimmy had mentioned a few houses not far away.

There had been no sign of Sophia in any of them.

"Good work today man." Elliot slapped Jimmy across the back before splitting off towards camp.

"He's not a man. He's a boy." Patricia appeared from the direction of the well.

"No man is a man until he has been a soldier." Elliot replied, quoting from his training sergeant.

"Well he is not a soldier either." Patricia answered back.

"We're all soldiers now, Ma'am." Elliot excused himself.

"We are only soldiers and servants of God." Patricia called to his back.

"And God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers." Answered Elliot over his shoulder.

Patricia and Jimmy turned and walked to the house. Elliot, walking past the RV, was making a beeline for the Econoline.

"You might consider being a little more courteous to our hosts." Dale chastised.

"What?" Elliot smirked. "That? That was just friendly debate."

"Well some might say that was being disrespectful to their family beliefs." Dale argued.

Elliot could see Dale's point, not that he was going to apologise or anything. "What are you doing off the roof anyway Dale? Ain't you s'pose to be watchin' our asses."

"I was excused… by Andrea." Dale grumbled, looking over his shoulder at the RV top.

"Hmm." Elliot looked up at the RV and smiled to himself. "Yep. Gonna have to see that for myself."

Dale watched on, mildly troubled about Elliot's interest in Andrea, as the younger man climbed to the RV roof. Andrea was sitting on the camp chair on the roof, rifle by her side.

"Suits you." Elliot remarked, taking a seat on the tin roof beside her, nodding at the gun.

"More so than a laundry basket." Andrea agreed.

Elliot and Andrea sat in comfortable silence, looking around the farm.

"Whoa, hold on here." Elliot said getting to his feet and looking off towards the trees. "Can I borrow that a second?" He asked, pointing to the rifle.

Andrea handed it to him reluctantly. "Why what is it?"

Elliot looked down the scope to where he had seen the movement.

"Yep. That's a walker." Elliot said, distinguishing the shape of a shuffling human being amongst the lens flare of the scope.

"WALKER! WALKER!" Andrea shouted.

Elliot dropped the rifle from his sight and passed it to Andrea. "Go on then." He encouraged.

Andrea took the rifle and raised it to her sight.

"NO! No, put the gun down!" Rick shouted, looking up at Andrea and Elliot from the ground beside the RV. "Hershel wants to deal with walkers on his property."

Shane and T-Dog emerged from their tents. "What for man?" Shane asked. "We got it covered."

Shane, T-Dog and Rick, various weapons and blunt instruments in hand, took off towards the walker. Andrea huffed and again raised the weapon to her eye.

"You got it babe." Elliot encouraged.

The sun's light reflected in the scope of the rifle, blinding Andrea from her target. She got down lower and steadied her aim.

"Andrea, don't!" Dale said anxiously.

"Back off Dale." Andrea growled.

Taking her shot from her high lookout, the rifle crack echoed around the farm grounds. A swell of pride filled Andrea as the walker dropped to the ground. "Got it." She smiled.

Rick shouted and turned to look back at the RV. His scream quickly replaced Andrea's delight with dread.

Hershel and his family filed from the house to see the disturbance on their land. The rifle's loud bang enough to fill each with fear.

Getting to the door as fast as her bad knee would allow, Rose looked out across the hay paddocks, into the low burning light of day's end.


	10. Chapter 10

The old house belonged in a story book. The clean white walls and smell of timber, even after so many years, held a warmth that only an old house can have. Generations perhaps of Greene's growing up within it's walls.

As Rose blankly stared at the timber panelling in front of her in the small hallway, Rick made his way to her side, stirring her from her musing.

"It's a nice place this house, isn't it." Rick sighed, looking around at the small hallway and joining living space. "Need some help to get to bed?"

"What's with you always trying to get me into bed Rick?" Rose smirked.

Blushing slightly from her innuendo, Rick looked at her and continued. "I think Daryl is fine for the night, and you could use some rest."

Rose looked over her shoulder to the closed bedroom door. Carol had been in there half an hour ago and said he was okay when she came back out, telling Rose it was okay for her to go. "I've been sleeping all day Rick, I'm fine to stay a bit longer."

"Okay, well I'm just down the hall in Carl's room for a bit longer if you need me." Rick said, patting her on the arm and walking away.

_Now, where was I? Oh yeah, the walls._

"You comin' in here or what?" Daryl's low grumble from the other side of the door made a hard lump rise in Rose's throat. She thought he was asleep.

"No." She replied quietly.

"Get your ass in here." Daryl growled quietly.

Rose closed her eyes and rest her head back against the wall behind her. Biting at her lip, Rose was dreading having to talk to him again. She preferred to just sit outside his room and quietly keep a vigil. Her fingertips found the cane hooked over the arm of the wooden chair as she sighed. Biting the bullet, Rose got unsteadily to her feet and reached for the door handle.

Turning the old brass and cracking open the door slowly, Rose looked into the dim lamp-lit room. Her eyes dilating and seeing the bandaged up form of Daryl for the first time on the bed, laying on his back with the blankets pulled high. "You need something?" She asked quietly.

Daryl didn't answer. Rose pushed the door open and hopped inside, cane hooked over her arm, she used the door and bed for support.

Daryl briefly looked her up and down as she moved into the room to his bedside, before shifting his gaze back to the roof above him. Rose turned and sat on the edge of his bed, struggling to make it further into the room on her bad knee.

Rose sat there, heart swollen and choking her in her throat. "I'm sorry." She said quietly, not even sure if her cracked whisper was loud enough for him to hear.

He didn't reply or make any notion that he had heard her, so Rose cleared her throat and tried again. "I'm…"

"I heard you the first time." He grumbled. A terse silence hung between them, stuffing the air with confusion and tension. "You ain't got nothin' to be sorry for." Daryl finally said.

"This is my fault." Rose said flatly, looking at him over her shoulder. Not directly at Daryl, more just the bed space between him and herself.

"It ain't your damn fault." He snapped, "It was that nag."

"You know what I mean." Rose said, dismissing his comment about the horse for the bullshit it was. "I shouldn't have… pushed you."

That hot silence crept back between them again, making quiet tears flit into Rose's eyes despite her not actually crying.

Daryl shifted slightly on the bed, cradling his wounded side as he moved a little closer to Rose. "Ya didn't say anything I didn't need to hear. You were right." He grumbled.

"Was I?" Rose's words filled with self-doubt. "You got hurt Daryl, badly, …looking for a lost cause."

"She ain't a lost cause." He snapped at her again, angrily. "I was right behind her."

Rose nodded slowly, looking away back to the door. Her nod changed into a subtle shake.

"Daryl." She choked a little on her hard words. "You are… a grown man, armed to the teeth and… you've probably taken down a hundred of those walkers by now. More." She sighed and turned back to see him. "And look what happened to you."

He opened his mouth to say something, but found that he didn't even have any words.

"She was twelve years old." Rose sniffed, facing the wall again. "And nothing of her. What chance did she have out there alone."

"Stop talkin' 'bout her like she's dead." Daryl growled, low and angry. "Sophia is gonna be jus' fine. She's prob'ly holed up in some house further down the creek, just waitin' for us."

Rose kept her back to Daryl as she quickly wiped away the stray tears that had broken free of her eyes and wet her face. Daryl watched her shoulders as they lifted and dropped slowly, deep heaving breaths moving her whole frame.

She didn't leave. Rose wasn't going anywhere. Just sitting on the side of his bed, breathing and waiting. Daryl didn't understand why she hadn't left yet, but was grateful that she didn't. Her blonde tangle was reigned into a thick braid that laced down her spine. The faded dark green t-shirt she wore hung loosely from her body and spilled over her jeans to the bed. The minutes of her shuddering silence, felt like hours of quiet personal blame.

Daryl hesitantly reached out to touch the back of her t-shirt, just as she stood up, not noticing his hand. Pulling it quickly back to his side, he watched as Rose juggled the cane and hopped over to the door.

"Do you need anything?" She asked quietly, watching her own hand on the door.

Daryl rolled away from her, facing the back wall of the small room. "No." His dismissive reply.

Rose nodded softly to herself, unsure if leaving was what she really wanted to do. She turned the cold brass door handle and spilled the hallway light into the bedroom. Awkwardly, Rose managed to leave the small room without another word to the sullen man on the bed.

She pulled the door closed behind her and took in a shuddering gasp, her lungs desperate for air as she had been unknowingly holding her breath. Wiping her face on her short sleeve at her shoulder, Rose sat back down into her chair at the door, in the hall.

Closing her eyes she tried to blank her mind and go back to thinking about walls and timber and families, instead of the racking and terrible pain in her stomach caused by the thoughts of a little girl, lost and taken from this world.

…...

The foam of the van mattress was losing it's puff. Not much was keeping Elliot actually off the floor in the back of the Econoline. Stretched back under the constellation of various stickers and naked pin-up girl cut outs (which he had insisted stay when they inherited the van back in Charlotte), Elliot could feel a pair of eyes on him again through the open side doors.

Sighing, he rolled to his side, facing the camp beyond the doors, and leant up on his elbow. Elliot had a wisp of a humour-less grin on his mouth as he challenged the owner of the eyes to speak their mind or get off his case.

Andrea had been looking up at him every two minutes for the past hour, from her seat in the dark at the picnic table. A heated glare and touch of blame-casting, Andrea was doing her best to make Elliot uncomfortable, challenging him in her own way to dare speak to her.

"What?" Elliot asked, loud enough for anyone else around to prick up their ears in their tents and listen in to the next heated drama in camp.

Andrea made a small noise, an exaggerated sound of derision, and looked away.

"Come on." Elliot challenged. "Got somethin' to say, say it. Don't just sit there stink-eyeing me all night. I get enough of that from Rose."

Glaring back at him, Andrea got to her feet and looked around over her shoulders to see if anyone was around. She stomped over to the van and stood at the doors, hands on her hips, Elliot looking up at her from his reclined position on the bedding.

"It's your fault I shot Daryl." She hissed angrily, sounding more like a deflating tyre than the hard-ass act she was putting on. "You encouraged me. You handed me the gun."

"Ahh… Okay." Elliot said laying back on the mattress, hands interlaced behind his head. Andrea forced herself to keep her fierce stare on Elliot's face, not his biceps. "You need someone to blame …other than yourself." He briefly tensed his muscles and smirked as her eyes flitted to the front of his khaki wife beater.

"Stop it." She scowled.

Elliot sighed. "Okay, go ahead. Lay it on me." He watched her as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Come on. I'm a big boy, I can take it."

Andrea pouted and shook her head slowly. Her blue eyes burning to convey the lie on her tongue, ignoring the message in her head.

_It wasn't his fault. It was yours._

Folding her arms across her chest, she turned and walked towards the RV.

"That all you got?" Elliot mumbled quietly as Andrea left, ignoring him.

He waited until he could hear Andrea stomping up the stairs of the RV and closed his eyes. Sighing, he rolled out of bed and swung his legs out of the van. He needed to take a piss. Walking off towards the trees behind camp, he could see Andrea through the window of the RV, talking with Carol and Dale.

Elliot spat to the side as he walked, ducking in behind the old oaks and having a slash.

Seeing Glenn approach from the barn with a blanket and flashlight in hand, Elliot drew back into the shadows.

Glenn was tense and worked up about something.

"Grrahhhh!" Elliot roared as he sprung from the darkness and grabbed on to Glenn's arm, imitating a walker.

"Aghh! GET OFF ME!" Glenn shrieked, falling to the ground and swinging the heavy flashlight.

Elliot grabbed onto Glenn's swinging arm and eased him to the ground, laughing his ass off.

"What's the matter with you!?" Glenn yelled, realising his mistake.

""Get off me", really?" Elliot mimicked. "That's what you say to a walker?"

"I knew it was you, you asshole." Glenn said, getting slowly back up to his feet.

"Bullshit." Elliot smirked. "I saw your face. You shit your pants." He leaned back against the tree behind him, giving Glenn room to dust himself off.

"Whatever." Glenn shook his head and picked up the blanket and flashlight from the ground beside him.

"So what was on your mind?" Elliot asked. "Cause you looked pretty worked up about somethin' comin' over this way."

"What? Nothing." Glenn frowned, looking away from Elliot.

"Premature Ejaculation?" Elliot asked, smirking at the blanket bundled up under Glenn's arm.

"No!" Glenn hissed, looking around over his shoulder. "Nothing… I mean… with who?" He flustered.

"Alright, whatever." Elliot waved dismissively at Glenn. "Be a gentleman then." He stood up and walked back towards camp beside Glenn.

Approaching Glenn's tent, Elliot leaned in a little closer and whispered to Glenn. "One of these days I'm gonna need details about you and Farm Girl."

"What are you talking about?" Glenn asked, very unconvincingly.

"Yeah yeah, whatever man." Elliot slapped him on the back, cheesiest grin you have ever seen plastered across his face. "Sweet dreams Glenn." He chuckled.

Elliot swaggered off towards his van, leaving Glenn flustered and more uncomfortable than he had been since his run in in the barn earlier.

…...

"Okay. Now it is definitely time." Rick's quiet voice woke Rose from her sleep. "You're about to fall out of your chair."

He was kneeled in front of Rose, hands on her shoulders. Rose had slumped right down in the hard wooden chair, her body seeking the comfort in her sleep she denied herself in consciousness. She had slipped away somewhere between her thoughts of Sophia and Carol, Daryl, and Hershel's plan to chase them off his land as soon as possible.

Sitting up and rolling her stiff neck, seeking her familiar pop and crunch in the top of her spine, Rose tried to bring a small smile to her lips for Rick's friendly wake up call, but found she couldn't. She lifted her hands up to Rick's arms at her shoulders and wrapped her fingers around his wrists.

Rick could see the despondency in her features. Her face was like a marbled stone statue, cold but beautiful, and desperately sad.

"Hey, come on now." Rick said, slowly stroking her shoulder with his thumbs and giving a soft squeeze. "Is this about Daryl? Cause he's going to be fine." Rick briefly looked at the bedroom door past her shoulder, wondering what exactly was between Rose and Daryl.

Rose coughed out a small laugh. "I guess it's just everything." She replied quietly. "When you slow down it gives the demons a chance to catch up to you."

He looked her in the eyes for a brief moment, glancing away before she could see too much in him. Rose swallowed back the shitty feelings in the back of her throat and inhaled a deep breath. "Look at me, putting all this shit on you when you have so much else on your plate." She dropped her hands from Rick's arms and he pulled back from her, crouching back on one knee.

"It's okay." Rick said, dropping his eyes to the ground at her feet. "How's the knee?" He asked trying to turn the conversation away from himself.

"It's shitty." Rose bluntly replied. "But fuck that… how are you?" She tried to pick up his eyes again, ducking down to catch his stare.

"Me? I'm fine." He said, flat and unconvincingly.

"Bullshit." She reached forward and picked up his hand off his knee. "Rick… Your son was shot, in front of you. Shane's still giving you a hard time. I don't know why," She stated when he finally looked up at her. "but I have eyes, I can see the tension between you. _And,_ not to mention, you are wearing the entire weight of the group's collective safety on your shoulders, including Sophia." Her voice broke a little, saying the little girls name, but she hoped Rick didn't notice. She sighed before continuing. "And I think you already know about what I was going to tell you."

"What's that?" Rick asked, blinking slowly and tilting his head.

"Hershel wants us to go, doesn't he?" She said quietly.

Rick nodded slowly, raising his free hand to his mouth and wiping dryly across his grimaced lips. "Yeah." He eventually answered. He dropped his hand from his face to her uninjured knee. "But you don't have to worry about it. I'm working on it with him. We'll be okay."

"We'll be okay either way Rick." She tried to sound reassuring. "We haven't been together very long, but we're strong. And you're a good leader. Things will work out, you'll see." Rose put everything she could behind her words, not wanting Rick to hear the doubt in her own thoughts.

"Okay." He nodded slowly. "But it is time for you to go to bed. Not that I'm trying to get you into it or anything." He smirked at her and stood up.

"Yeah yeah, okay." She put her hands up, asking for a hand to her feet. "Problem is… I don't have a bed. Elliot is in the van tonight. I heard him after dinner telling Dale he was taking a night off watch."

"Ahh." Rick said, pulling her up and looping her arm over his shoulder. "Well, Daryl isn't using his tent tonight. I think he wouldn't mind if you slept in there, while he is in here." He put his arm around her waist and helped her limp forward to the front door.

Holding her close again he could smell her hair and feel her warmth against his side, and all he could think was he didn't want to let her down. He wanted to keep her, his family and everyone safe.


	11. Chapter 11

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Pulling back the flap of his tent, Daryl was surprised to see her curled up in his blankets. The mess of blonde spilling out over his pillow. One long strapped up leg, jutting out from under his sleeping bag as if she had been too hot during her sleep. It had been a sticky summery night. Warm enough that Daryl wasn't sure if she was even wearing anything under the bedding. Or at least, that was where his mind wandered to.

"Ay." He called, low and gruff for this hour of the morning. He clicked his tongue, as though calling to Nervous Nellie and she stirred.

Rose pushed the blankets from her face and squinted against the morning's harsh light. She put her hand up to block the sun from the open tent door and fought to find her bearings.

Daryl couldn't help feel a little dissatisfied when he saw she was still wearing her green t-shirt.

"Hey." She croaked, making out Daryl's silhouette in the glaring light. "Wass'up?"

"You're in my bed. That's what's up." He protested, acting aggrieved.

Rose looked around her, through her one cracked eyelid. "Yeah." She grunted. Slumping back down on the pillow behind her, Rose put the back of her hand to her mouth as she yawned and reluctantly pulled the blankets away from herself. Sitting up and brushing her hair back nonchalantly, she looked around the tent for her jeans and boots.

Daryl acted casual, averting his eyes from the half naked woman on his bed and scratching the back of his neck. He waited until he heard the zip of her fly coming up before looking back in again. Rose struggled to pull on her steel-cap, lace up boots, leaving them untied as she awkwardly tried to climb to her feet on her bad knee.

Reaching out to help her up, Daryl forgot for a moment about his stitched up side. He grabbed her hand to pull her to her feet and received a stabbing pain through his abdomen as his reward. Yanking his arm back reflexively, Daryl dropped Rose's hand and she crashed back to the tent floor, landing on her knee.

She let out a shrill yelp as she fell to her side, back to Daryl's bed, cupping her knee. Holding his side tightly, Daryl ducked into his tent and got down beside her, unsure exactly what to do. Rose rolled onto her back, still holding her knee tightly, and looked up at Daryl with tearful eyes. She was breathing heavily but the sharp agony was slowly filtering into a dull ache.

"Ya alright?" Daryl asked, still holding onto his stitches.

Rose nodded silently, breathing slow hitched exhales. Seeing she was more or less okay, Daryl lifted his shirt a little to look at his bandage and make sure he hadn't pulled a stitch.

Rose scoffed, raising her hand to cover her forehead. "Look at us. Couple of bruised bananas."

"Pfft." Daryl smirked.

"Okay." She sighed, the pain subsiding. "Let me try that again." Groaning a little, Rose pulled herself up and got to her feet, unaided. She placed her hand on Daryl's shoulder and reached down to open the tent door. He reached up and held her wrist, steadying her. She limped forward out of the tent and Daryl let go, sitting himself back on his bed.

He hadn't been that upset to see her there, even finding himself a little disappointed that she left. Daryl figured she just still wasn't ready to face him properly after last night and hadn't expected him to make his way to the tent quite so soon.

Laying back on his bedding, it was still warm from her sleeping body heat. Daryl kicked off his boots, unsure how he felt about it all.

…...

"Glenn!" Daryl shouted from inside his tent. Hearing the Asian kid walking around, talking with someone by the RV. "Ay! Glenn!"

Glenn appeared at Daryl's tent door, a large bucket of peaches under his arm. "What's up Daryl?" Glenn asked, looking nervous.

"Gimme some a those." He gestured to the fruit. Glenn tossed him a few peaches. "Oi, pull back the outside of the tent, will ya? Need some air in here."

Glenn put down the bucket and untied the fly from Daryl's dome tent, peeling it back half way so Daryl could see out his side wall.

"Anything else?" Glenn asked with a sigh. Daryl shook his head and took a bite from one of the peaches. "You're welcome." Glenn said quietly, as though disappointed Daryl hadn't said thank you, and picked up the bucket to see if anyone else wanted some fruit.

He passed Andrea and gave her one of the small fuzzy fruits and a short smile. "Thank you Glenn." She said humbly.

Andrea was trying to put on her best self-effacing act. Gearing herself up mentally to apologise to Daryl.

"You didn't do anything wrong." Elliot hissed in her ear, sneaking up behind her, having worked out what she was starring at Daryl's tent for. Andrea spun around and looked at Elliot, indignantly. "He'll tell you the same thing."

"I'm not interested in anything you have to say to me, Elliot." She whispered harshly.

Elliot smirked, looking away from her angry, flustered face. "Yeah, okay." He shook his head at her stubbornness. "What are you doing today anyway?" He asked casually.

"Not that it is any of your business, but I'm going to the gun range to practice with Shane and the others." She sneered.

"You want me to send Daryl out there for ya?" He laughed quietly. "Target practice."

Andrea dropped her mouth open and glared at Elliot resentfully. She turned and stomped off towards the RV, having planned on grabbing a book for Daryl anyway.

Elliot smirked at Andrea marching away, deciding she was fucking beautiful when she was mad.

…...

"Glenn." Rose waved Glenn over. "Can you help me out for a second, please?

Still carrying the bucket, Glenn jogged over to Rose beside the picnic table. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Uhh, yeah." She rubbed her thigh deeply through her jeans. "I can't quiet seem to get into the bench seat, I'm a bit wobbly today. Can you just help me sit down without letting me fall on my ass?"

"Sure." He answered quietly, placing the bucket of peaches on the table.

"They look good." Rose said about the fruit. "Can I have one?"

"Yeah, they're for everyone. Have as much as you like." Glenn got to her side and held onto her upper arm, supporting her as she struggled to get in behind the seat. "What's that?" He asked, feeling something under her skin in her bicep.

"What's what?" Rose asked, still looking at the fruit.

"This." He prodded the small lump. "In your arm."

Rose felt the area of her arm Glenn was pointing at, working out the shape. "Oh." She said with realisation. "It must be a birth control implant thing. I guess 'other me' didn't want to have any babies just yet. I'll never get over how weird this whole memory thing is."

"Hm," Said Glenn off-handedly. "Some of the other women around here could have used something like that."

"Oh yeah? Like who?" Rose asked, eyebrow cocked. "You mean, you and Maggie?"

"What? …uhh." Glenn said, his eyes betraying his nervousness as he stood back beside the table again.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone." Rose smirked, drumming her fingers on the table. "Not that there is many people left to tell."

"You think everybody knows?" Glenn asked, thankful for the out as he almost spilled everything about Lori.

"Nah." She consoled him. "Not everybody. Just your friends, we know you well enough to be able to tell when you're getting some."

"We're friends?" He asked confused.

"Of course we're friends Glenn." She replied, surprised and upset by his question. "Why would you ask that?"

"I don't know. We never really hang out or anything." He said dully.

"That's stupid Glenn." She grabbed his arm, pulling him to sit beside her. "We are definitely friends. I'm sorry that I made you feel otherwise."

"Okay." He said, smiling a tiny quirk of his lips to himself. He reached into the bucket and grabbed a peach for Rose and one for himself. "Can I ask you something?" Passing the fruit to her.

"About what?" She asked around the mouthful of peach she had just bitten off.

"About you …and Daryl?" He answered quietly.

Rose eyed him past the fruit she held in front of her face. "What about me and Daryl?" She dared him to ask his question.

"Umm…" He looked away, bashful. "Just… are you together or something?"

"Not that I know of." Rose replied slowly, watching Glenn as he shifted uncomfortably under her stare.

"Oh, okay." Glenn looked unseeingly at his peach in his hands. "It's just…"

"Go on." She said dragging out the two short words.

"Last night... at his room..." Glenn said, explaining very little. "And also Carol."

"Carol?" Rose asked, caught off guard. "What about Carol?"

"She is acting all weird about you. Sort of… jealous, maybe." Glenn stammered quietly.

"What?!" Said Rose, looking around to see if she could spot Carol.

"Don't say I said anything." Glenn said, hushing Rose with his hands, suddenly alarmed.

"I won't, but what is she saying?" Rose interrogated.

"It's not so much what she is saying. Just, kind of, the way she looks at you, or how she acts all of a sudden if your name gets brought up in conversation."

"What?!" Rose repeated, stunned.

"Yeah." Glenn shrugged.

Rose thought to herself for a moment. "Really? Does she have a thing for Daryl or something?"

"Yeah." Glenn answered, trying not to set Rose off again. "I guess because he has been looking for Sophia and acting all nice to her. And she's all jealous, because …you know."

"Apparently I know nothing, Glenn." Rose squeezed the fruit in her hand a little. "Know what?"

"About how… Daryl is to you." Glenn explained under his breath, like it was the most obvious secret in the world.

Rose was quickly loosing patience with this conversation.

"What? Angry and surly?" Rose shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

"No." Glenn rebuffed. "He's always, like, watching you and asking where you are and stuff."

"Daryl?" She asked, incredulously. "_Daryl_ Daryl?" As if there was another Daryl she hadn't met yet.

Glenn nodded, uncomfortably.

Rose looked at the peach juice running down her hand from the fruit she was crushing slightly in her fingertips.

_What the hell Daryl?_

"Are you okay?" Glenn asked, looking at Rose's strange expression.

"No." She shot back bluntly. Rose sighed and looked at Glenn. "Yes. I'm fine. Just… whatever."

Glenn saw Lori looking at him from her and Rick's tent. "Uhh… Can we talk more later?"

"Why? You got more bombshells to drop on me?" Rose huffed.

Glenn didn't quite know how to answer her, seeing as he seemed to be the appointed secret keeper of the whole farm.

"Go on." She waved dismissively. "Let me process all this. We can talk more later."

"Okay. Sorry." Glenn offered.

"Don't be. Now go away." Rose said, reaching in the bucket to get another peach.

…...

Elliot watched from up high on the RV as the cars of people returned from target practice. He hadn't gone, for obvious reasons.

_Too damn good. Don't want to show up Shane._

Rick, T-Dog, and all the women and kids got out and walked towards the camp and farm house. He was smirking to himself as he counted Patricia and the little blonde chick amongst the shooters. Soldiers in training.

The smirk faded from his face as he realised he didn't see Andrea, or Shane for that matter.

"Hey Rick!" Elliot called. "Where's Andrea?"

"Her and Shane have gone to check out a housing development down the hill a bit." Rick answered, smiling to himself about Elliot's concern. "They shouldn't be too long. Shane will keep her safe."

Elliot waved off Rick's last comment and looked away to the farm gate, an angry heat pooling in the pit of his stomach.

…...

Daryl rest the book down on his chest. 'The case of the Missing Man'. Daryl wasn't sure if Andrea was intentionally referencing Merle's disappearance when she gave him the book, or if she was just dumb.

He scratched at the tickle on the side of his face, feeling something tiny against his skin. Daryl pulled a long, wavy blonde hair from his pillow and played with it in his fingertips.

"Hey."

The quiet greeting caught Daryl off guard and he jumped slightly on the bedding, sending a small jolt to his wound.

"What are you doin' sneaking around?" He grumbled, flicking the hair away to the side of his tent.

Rose pushed the tent flap aside and hopped inside. "I wasn't sneaking." She said defensively and slightly out of breath. "Hell, I was practically dragging my sorry self around the camp."

She tried to ease herself down, leg awkwardly out to the side, but ended up just dropping on her ass beside Daryl's bed. Rose brushed her hair back from her face, and let out a short puff of breath, trying to get comfortable.

Daryl watched from his reclined position on the pillow as she produced a pack of cards from the back pocket of her jeans. "Thought I should keep you company." Rose shrugged.

"Know how to play poker?" He asked, nodding at her hands holding the deck.

"No." She smiled.

"Blackjack?" He said raising an eyebrow.

"No." Her smile turning into a grin.

"Gin?" Daryl asked, trying to think of any game he knew the rules of.

"Why, do you have any?" She scoffed, referring to the drink.

"Very funny." Daryl grumbled. "What do ya know then?"

"Nothing really." Her small smile still playing on her lips. "I suck at games. Just ask Carl."

"Why'd ya bring the cards for then?" He squinted at her.

"I know one game." She shrugged. Rose drew a card from the middle of the deck, licked the back of it and stuck it to her forehead.

"That's a drinking game." He smirked. "And we ain't got any gin, remember?"

"We can still play. Just don't be a sore loser when I win." She laughed holding the deck out for him to choose a card.

Daryl pulled a random card out the middle of the deck and without looking at it's surface, stuck it to his forehead. Rose pulled her lips into a little twisted, tight-lipped smile at first glance at Daryl's card.

_It's lucky she don't play poker, she's got a tell you could see with your eyes closed._

"Three of diamonds?" Rose began, guessing at the face of the card stuck to her head.

"No." Daryl smirked. "Ace of spades?"

"No. Eight of hearts?" She returned.

"Are we really goin' ta play this game for the rest of the afternoon?" Daryl asked.

"Yes. Eight of hearts?" She tilted her head to the side, smiling softly.

"No." Daryl put his arms up behind his head and lay back. "What's happening with the search for Sophia? Jack of clubs?"

"No." She answered. "Shane and Andrea are checking a housing estate a couple of miles down the road. Queen of clubs?"

"No. And everyone else?" Daryl asked, lifting his head up to look at Rose better, despite the pull in his stitches. She just looked back at him, smiling. "Four of hearts?" He answered her stare, shaking his head softly at her obstinacy.

"No. No one else really knows what to do." Rose sighed, knowing her answer was going to upset him. "Ace of diamonds?"

Daryl pulled his mouth in tight and rest his head back down on the pillow silently. He sighed resignedly. "No. Seven of diamonds?"

"No." Rose replied quietly. "Three of clubs?"

"I'm going back out tomorrow." Daryl admitted quietly, his gruff voice low and a little unsure of himself.

Rose sat quietly, considering his confession. "Where?" She finally asked softly.

Daryl produced the aerial map he had gotten back off Rick this morning from beside him. He passed it to Rose, who opened it across her lap.

Sitting up again with a soft grunt, Daryl looked at the map and pointed. "That's the ridge that bitch-ass nag threw me down." He dragged his finger along the small line that was marked as a creek. "This is all dried up creek bed. I'm gonna cross over here, before the ridge and follow this narrow path down further east."

"What makes you think that is the way?" Rose questioned, not looking up to see Daryl who was looking at her.

"I found her doll there, at the bottom of the pond." He shrugged a little. "A couple of walkers came out from this small animal track. Could be that's where Sophia wandered off to. And there's some houses out that way" He added pointing out the small white squares.

"Horse?" She asked, folding the map back up.

"It's the only way to get there fast enough and back again before dark." He said, as she passed him the map back.

"When are you going?" She looked at the deck of cards that were toppled over and fanning out at her feet.

"Tomorrow, after breakfast." He answered, tucking the map back down beside him and looking back to her eyes. "You ain't gonna tell me not to go?"

"I don't think there is much point." She finally looked up to his eyes. "Somebody has to go and I'm sure I couldn't stop you anyway, despite the fact that you are being held together by a few threads of silk and pure stubborness."

"No, it ain't three of clubs." He said, settling back down into the bedding again, giving his wounded muscles a break.

Rose peeled the card off her forehead and looked at it bleakly.

"Ay." Daryl said scowling at her.

Rose smirked softly, the expression not quite making it to her eyes. "Told you I suck at games." She said, placing the four of diamonds on top of the pack she had gathered back up. "You should rest if you are going back out again." Rose placed the deck on the ground beside Daryl and clumsily got to her feet, almost loosing her balance, again.

Daryl watched as she limped forward out the door and disappeared behind the covered half of his tent, without even so much as looking back at him. Wounded slightly from her deserting him, he closed his eyes and felt the forgotten card on his head flutter loose. Picking it up and turning it over, he looked at the face of his card.

King of hearts.


	12. Chapter 12

Anger was an easy emotion, and one that Daryl knew well. If he focused on that anger he didn't have to feel anything else.

He was as angry as a wasp in a fruit jar. The familiar hot twist of a knife in his stomach was his only hand-hold keeping his pain in check. If he couldn't hold on to his anger, other things would begin to surface. Guilt, fear, engulfing despair, desolation. None of which was useful, so he blocked them out with a stone wall of anger and contempt.

He was angry at her for going. Taking his plan and making it her own.

He was angry at Carol. While he had been busy showing her the Cherokee Roses growing nearby, Rose had taken off.

He was angry at Rick and Elliot. Neither of them knew how to ride a horse with no gear. And she had taken the spare saddle and bridle with her, knowing Daryl would be too injured to ride without them.

And he was angry at himself. Angry because he was a dumb fucking piece of shit.

How did he not know she was going to do this?

Maybe he did know. And something inside him wanted to let her go.

Had he cared more about finding Sophia than Rose's safety? So absorbed in his own ego, knowing beyond all else that he would find that little girl, that he didn't care if he or anyone else got hurt looking for her.

_Focus! Anger, remember?!_

Daryl lifted his hands to his face and pushed his palms into his eye sockets. The black behind his eyelids morphing into a static of purple and white explosions, as he pushed harder. Taking his hands away he watched as the fiery stars faded and his tent ceiling came back into focus.

Daryl had pulled the fly back over his tent, shielding himself from all their pitiful and blaming stares. He had drawn their eyes to him, stalking around, cussing out anyone who approached or even looked at him. Daryl didn't want their pity, he just wanted someone to grow some fucking balls and go out there and get Rose back.

Picking up the balled up piece of paper beside him again, he opened the crumpled page and re-read the two words, like it was some ancient riddle he needed to decipher to find a lost treasure.

'Don't follow.'

He studied the note that he had found pinned up to the horse stable wall. Her writing was rough and hurried, but plain and in no uncertain terms. He scrunched the paper back into a tight wad, feeling his fingertips press into his palm as he fisted it tighter.

It was already starting to shade inside his tent. A soft glow from the late afternoon sun dimly lighting the thin nylon of his dome tent. The day had been long and torturous, and over far too soon.

_Why isn't she back yet?_

Daryl knew there were people outside his tent. He could hear Andrea and Lori at the picnic table, clucking away like a pair of hens. Elliot's heavy boots on top of the RV, walking back and forth still, watching the fence line for any sign of Rose's return. Glenn and T-Dog, not far enough away, discussing whether she would be okay or not.

"I mean, does she even know how to ride a horse?" T-Dog asking him.

"I have no idea. But she had her gun with her, right?" Glenn rebuffed. "We haven't heard any gun shots so that has to be a good sign."

Daryl shook his head at Glenn's comment. Even with echo you wouldn't hear a 9mm from here. She was that far away from him right now.

Daryl closed his eyes, trying to feel angry at Glenn's stupid remark.

_Focus on the anger_.

"ROSE!"

Daryl was momentarily unable to tell if the cry came from outside the tent or was merely a manifestation of the sickening scream in his mind.

Hell, maybe he yelled it himself and it was his own voice ringing in his ears.

"ROSE! SOMEONE GET HERSHEL AND RICK! NOW!" Elliot's second yell stirred Daryl from his disjointed thoughts. Getting up faster than he should have with his stitches, Daryl ignored the stab of pain in his muscles and flesh, diving for the door of his dome.

He rushed out the flap and stood, looking around for where Elliot had seen her.

The beat of Nellie's hooves drew Daryl's attention. He heard Elliot drop from the RV ladder and take off towards the approaching horse and rider. She was less than a 150 yards away and Daryl couldn't seem to get his feet into gear as she rode towards them, not slowing her lightning pace.

"Oh my god!" Andrea exclaimed, getting to her feet. "Is that…"

"Go get Carol. NOW!"

...

_*****__**I know what you're thinking... not quite a chapter. Well i thought this little bit of tension could stand alone. Next chapter up tomorrow and it's a big one!**_

_**Quick thank you to NanamiYatsumaki and SweetKiwi604 for their, much appreciated, regular reviewing. You guys are really keeping me going and enthusiastic about this story.**_

_**X.**_


	13. Chapter 13

Elliot and Rick lifted the tiny, side saddle body down from the horse's back. Sophia fell limply into Rick's arms, Carol running from the house after Glenn had sprinted to get her from the sink of dishes she had been washing. Ripping off the rubber dish gloves she ran to her daughter in Rick's arms. Putting her hands to her mouth in fear of the worst, she paused until she saw her daughter lift her heavy head and cry for her mother's touch.

The air left Daryl's lungs like the vacuum of space had sucked him dry. His grip on the nylon tent tightened ten-fold when he looked up to see Rose. She lifted herself off the exhausted horse and fell into Elliot's arms. Her eyes instantly looked away from the people around her, seeking the person that wasn't there yet. She faulted slightly when she saw Daryl at his tent, her grey eyes fluttering away the tears as she pushed herself away from Elliot.

Rose limped hurriedly to Daryl and fell to the ground beside his tent before quite making it to him. Daryl wordless and powerless as she sobbed in a crumpled heap, balling her fists into the dusty earth, with her bad knee kicked out behind her.

"You were right." Her voice was cracked and thick as hot tears ran down her face, leaving a clear wet trail in the dust and grime on her cheeks. "You were right, Daryl. You were right."

Her sobs echoed around the farm as the group stared questioningly at Daryl. An angry heat built up in his chest at the gawkers.

Clutching his stitched up side, Daryl bent down and picked up Rose's arm. "Get in there." He instructed quietly, pushing her softly towards his tent.

Rose unwittingly quietly complied, going inside Daryl's tent as she was told, stumbling slightly.

"Show's over." He spat at the nearby Lori, before following Rose inside.

Rose was leaning forward on her hands and sitting on her hip, eyes closed tightly. She silently cried, her whole body shook visibly right down her arms. Daryl bit at the inside of his mouth and sat down cross-legged, awkwardly, on his pile of bedding beside the shuddering Rose.

"You were right." She spluttered out through a wet sob. "Daryl…" Rose looked up and leaned towards him. The way she swayed appeared as though she was about to collapse. With another loud weep, she shifted forward, grabbing onto Daryl's shirt as he watched her fall apart.

He didn't know how to comfort her. How to help her. How to get her smile back into her soft grey eyes that he hadn't seen for, what felt like, days. He put his hand to the back of her messy braid and pushed her gently down so that she was resting her head in his lap. At least she wouldn't fall over.

"I didn't believe you Daryl. I wanted to… but I didn't. I couldn't." She spoke quietly. Her face was buried into his hip, her hands still clutched at the ragged edge of his shirt tails. "I gave up finding her alive when you came back half dead. I… I was going out there so you wouldn't… I was just… I was _praying _I would find her dead."

Daryl breathed heavily, as quiet as he could past the tight pain in his chest. He scrunched his fingers softly in her hair and didn't interrupt.

"Not one of those monsters_, dead _dead. Like the deer we found." She continued, hiccupping softly. Or sobbing still, Daryl couldn't tell. "I couldn't face having to shoot her in the head. A beautiful little girl. I couldn't do it. I knew I wouldn't be able to do that. So I prayed that if I was going to find her at all, I would find her body so destroyed, she couldn't have come back."

"It's …okay." Daryl choked out past the hot lump in the back of his throat, stroking her hair absently.

"It's not… It's not okay." Rose's fist balled up tighter in Daryl's shirt as anger swayed into her words. "Who wishes that? That sweet little girl deserved to be found by someone who believed in her. Not someone who wanted to find her broken and _eaten_ beyond reanimation."

Daryl's own anger began to surface at her words. "Ay! You found her, s'all that matters." His hand stilled on her loose braid, fighting the urge to grab her and shake the stupid out of her.

Rose was still and quiet. Her body shuddered slightly with each racking breath she drew.

After a few minutes of silence, Daryl's side started to hurt. His muscles were hot and tight, and his internal stitches were pulling. Stroking his hand over her hair again, Daryl's breath hitched as he lowered himself down to the bedding behind him. From his new angle he could see that Rose had fallen asleep, deeply. She hadn't even stirred as he laid down.

The ashen colour of dust and grime shaded her face, but for the wet streaks of tears. A few loose blonde stands were stuck to her forehead with dried sweat.

It had been a hard ride and a long day.

Daryl closed his eyes, trying to will away the tight ache in his side.

…...

Rose tensed suddenly, jolting her from her uncomfortable sleep in the dark tent.

"Ay? Y'all right?" Daryl asked, his voice a harsh gravely note as he woke from his own light slumber. The sudden movement against his leg, breaking his uneasy rest.

"Uh… yeah." Rose slurred, disorientated and thirsty as hell. She tried to clear her throat but found she couldn't even do that. Pushing herself up, away from Daryl's thigh-come-pillow. She wiped groggily at her mouth and looked unseeingly around the dark tent. "Water?" She asked.

"Yeah, hol' on." Daryl mumbled softly as he sat up, reaching around in the dark for his small lantern. The stark white of the low fluorescent lighting stung the dilated eyes. He found his canteen and opened it for Rose, passing it to her with a nod.

Drinking deeply, the cool water took the sting out of her cracked throat. "Thanks." She whispered, passing the almost empty canteen back to him.

Daryl looked around for a rag or cloth or something, but only found his shirt from yesterday. It wasn't too bad. He tipped a little water on the shirt and placed the canteen back down beside him, screwing the cap back on.

"Yer a mess." He grunted as he took hold softly of her chin, turning her face towards his. He dragged the cool cloth over her grotty skin, wiping back the layers of dust and sweat.

Rose closed her eyes as the soft strokes felt good on her disgusting face. He turned the shirt over and brushed her loose bits of hair back from her forehead with the wet bundled cloth.

A small smile cocked onto her mouth when Daryl finished. She opened her fatigued grey eyes and was met by Daryl's soft blue stare.

Everything in her body wanted her to stay. Everything except the voice in the back of her mind telling her to go.

"Thanks." Rose uttered softly, turning gradually to leave. Listening to her doubt.

As she faced the tent zipper and shuffled forward with her throbbing knee, a tight stab of regret and unhappiness hit Daryl in his sternum. Before he could stop himself, he reached forward and curled his fingers into the waistband of her loose jeans, halting her retreat.

Rose turned and looked over her shoulder, her chest feeling as though it were being constricted, leaving her breathless. Tense anticipation.

Daryl's soft tug on her jeans was almost unnoticeable. She moved towards him, still unsure of his intensions, and her own.

His hand dropped as she came back to his pile of blankets and bedding.

All he could see with the dim lantern light, was her and her shining eyes.

Rose hesitantly raised her hand and placed it softly on Daryl's chest. Every fibre of her body, every voice in her head was pleading, _screaming_, for Daryl to grab her. Kiss her. Touch her. Anything.

She swallowed dryly as she saw Daryl's hand lift out the corner of her vision. His fingertips settled softly in her messy braided hair, the gentle touch sending a shudder down her spine.

Daryl's lungs burned as he realised he was holding his breath. He took in a sharp breath and then leant forward, pushing his lips awkwardly to Rose's soft mouth.

The kiss was hard, unpractised. Rose pulled back slightly, instantly regretting the action fearing that Daryl would think she was rejecting him. Her hand at his chest clutched mindlessly at his shirt, holding him forward as she pushed her mouth softly back to his.

Daryl could feel every yielding quip of her lips as they parted slightly against his. Rose's tender kisses sending waves of heat down his body with each breathless graze.

Everything in him felt tight. His skin. His muscles. It all wanted to be closer to her. To feel all of her against all of him.

Daryl reached up with both hands, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her forward to himself. She fell slightly, trying to find somewhere to put her hands. One found the bedding beside Daryl, the other just clung to the front of his shirt as he pulled her down slowly on top of himself.

Settling his hands under the back of her t-shirt, against her warm spine, Daryl held her tightly. He could feel the muscles in her back extend and contract as she manipulated her body so that she could straddle his lap, knee awkwardly to the side. Rose's lips nipped and bit softly at Daryl's mouth, heating up as his hands slid down lower to her hips.

When she ground down against him, his whole body tightened. The hard length in his jeans felt constricted as his skin crawled with a feeling of thrill and lust.

Daryl hated himself for not being able to kiss her back the way she was kissing him. Every soft movement, every tender swipe of her tongue against his teeth felt so right. So good. He tilted his head slightly and kissed at her lips, trying to copy her soft bites, gripping hard onto her body as if to stop the dream from floating away.

Rose ground down against him again with a soft moan at his feat. The heated kick electrified her butterflies and excited her kissing. Her hands grabbed onto Daryl wherever she could, his shirt, his shoulder, impulsively.

Daryl groaned as she pressed herself again against his crotch. He couldn't stand it any longer. One more grind and he was going to cum in his pants.

Ignoring the sting and stab of pain from his stitches and wound, Daryl pushed himself up and rolled Rose onto her back, half off the bedding, and sat back on his feet between her legs. Heavily breathing through parted swollen lips.

He just needed her. Needed to feel her wrapped around himself. Needed _her_.

Rose gasped as Daryl put his hands to her jean's belt and fly. She lifted her hips off the ground as Daryl tugged the denim and her panties down her thighs and past her strapped up knee, throwing them aside with her boots. Putting her hands to the bottom of her filthy grey t-shirt, she dragged the cotton up off her body along with her crop bra.

Daryl's breath caught in his chest as his eyes travelled over her body, his hands working inelegantly to get open his own jeans and let them drop around his hips.

Reaching forward, Rose put her hands to the buttons at the bottom of Daryl's shirt, popping the first three open quickly, moving up his chest. Daryl grabbed onto Rose's wrists, a weird expression she didn't understand marring his face.

He didn't want to have to talk about that tonight. He just wanted to feel good. To make her feel good.

He hesitated for a moment before raising her wrists up and planting a kiss on each at her pulse. The soft skin felt perfect against his lips, her fingertips brushing the side of his face. Daryl awkwardly placed her hands down beside her and leaned forward over Rose, pushing his jeans down to his knees.

She wrapped her hands around his back, settling her palms against his shoulder blades, unsure of what just happened but desperate not to let it stop what was happening now.

Burying his face into the warmth of her neck, Daryl felt as her legs wrapped around his hips, the left holding him a little tighter than the right, and his length brushing against her wet slit.

Daryl grazed his lips along her throat, the soft salty essence of the dried perspiration in her skin and hair heated his blood and wet his lips. Resting his weight on his elbow and holding her behind her back, his free other hand settled on her rib cage, grazing up higher to softly cup her breast and brush her nipple. With a low dig, Daryl pushed forward into Rose, inching his way inside her.

A soft gasp and whine came from Rose's mouth as she pulled him further forward with her legs and hands.

The tight, hot centre of this woman felt impossibly right. Like there was no where else on earth that he should be or ever wanted to go again.

Daryl groaned as he pushed himself into her again and again. Each draw and thrust feeling better and wetter each time. Deafened to everything but the blood rushing in his head and the breathless panting of Rose in his ear with each push inside her.

Shuddering breaths in sync with hard rolling hips.

Rose turned her face and brushed her soft parted lips against his course facial hair, her hands clutching at the back of his shirt, not letting him slip away.

Daryl's mouth met hers as she pressed a soft wet kiss to his lips. His thrusts eased to a slower grind. Aggression cowing to the affection of the kiss. Licking tentatively at her tongue, feeling the soft pressure of her pushing back as she looked up at him in the near dark.

Throat constricting and desperately soft.

His heart raced in his chest and he pulled his mouth away from her, a little belligerently, nuzzling again into the crook behind her jaw and placing a hand on the back of her neck to keep her turned slightly away. Back to the safety of her familiar scent and away from her grey eyes.

Returning to his harder deep thrusts, he groaned softly into her ear when she pulled herself up against him, arching back.

Her perfect body wanting him.

Daryl could feel small twitches flickering through Rose's muscles. Her arms, her thighs, deep inside her. She writhed under him, her hands pushing flat against the back of his shoulders, clawing at his muscles with blunt nails.

He closed his eyes tight until black and white stars blurred into his vision, muddying into a blinding grey. The stray hairs from her fraying braid feathering across his lips. She whined breathlessly beneath him, bucking into each thrust and pushing her head back into his hand.

Rose's voice broke through the pounding of his heartbeat as she moaned against the side of his head. Her throaty call, teamed with the satisfying and sudden tight clenching inside her, pushed Daryl to the edge and over it.

He bucked into her, groaning a long low grunt, muted as he buried his face into the soft flesh of her neck.

…...

"It's about fuckin' time." Elliot spoke quietly, shaking his head as he and Glenn listened to the combined noises coming from Daryl's tent. "That bitch needed a good dicking."

Glenn and Elliot were on night watch on top of the RV. Not that anyone could sleep right now anyway, with the excitement of Sophia's recovery still buzzing in the air.

Glenn looked at Elliot with appal for his crass words.

"What?" Elliot asked, sneering at his counterpart. "Like you weren't thinking it?"

"I wasn't actually." Glenn returned. "What they do is private."

"Oh yeah, like her moaning all around the camp is so private." Elliot scoffed. "Lucky she ain't a screamer, bring a whole mess a walkers down on us."

Glenn's curiosity got the better of him. "So, you and Rose never…?"

Elliot smiled slyly to himself, enjoying the fact that Glenn was finally starting to loosen up. "No." He answered. "Almost, once. But it was a fuckin' mess." Elliot shook his head and cocked his eyebrow, looking to Glenn. He didn't press for more details, but Elliot could tell Glenn wanted to know. Being NOT a gentleman, Elliot divulged. "It was one a those, end of the world, we're probably gonna die anyway kinda things. But it was just a clusterfuck. I leant on her hair, she _'accidentally'_ elbowed me in the mouth." He emphasised sarcastically. "We just started fighting and yellin' at each other and that was that. Bitch couldn't have killed my hard-on faster with a rock."

Glenn cringed at Elliot's metaphor.

"I'm better at makin' her mad. And I stick to what I'm good at." Elliot shifted his weight around and dusted off his hands, looking out to the open farm. "Now. You and the farmer's daughter. Go."

…...

The dark red lips and curls of the rose tattoo petals, blood red and rich, hypnotic with it's intricate diving bloom, kept Daryl immersed in her shoulder's flesh. Not that he could look away from the bare skin peeking out from under the drawn up open sleeping bag.

She was settled in against him, her back to his front. Every curve of her fitting in against him with sweet symmetry. Rose's hair seemed to find it's way back time and time again to his face, tickling against his lips. Daryl pushed his face a little closer to it so it at least couldn't tickle so much.

Rose was breathing quietly, but wasn't asleep. Daryl could hear the tension in her baited breaths, feel the tautness in the muscles in her back as they were pressed against his shirt. Her hands were tangled in his as she held him firmly wrapped around her like a cape or a shield.

He pushed a soft kiss to her shoulder, breaking her from her train of thoughts. "Go on." He urged her, quiet and rough as gravel in her ear. She hadn't said anything yet, but he could almost hear the thoughts storming in her mind.

Rose drew a shuddering breath and pulled him a little tighter around herself. Daryl felt her body twitch as she swallowed the lump in her throat before she spoke. "She was in a barn. Up in the hayloft of one of the properties down stream. I had checked them each, maybe three or four, before continuing on to the next."

"Walkers?" Daryl asked, keeping his lips to her skin.

"Yes. Maybe a dozen all up." She answered, her voice cracking slightly. "Spread out around the woods between houses." Rose cleared her throat and continued. "Except where I found Sophia. There were two of them there, under the loft. I told Sophia to cover her ears and just …shot them." She shook her head slightly. "I didn't care about the noise."

Daryl nodded against her back and stayed silent, waiting for her to go on.

"I got her down eventually. The rotted wood ladder was broken in half, probably by walkers trying to get to her, so I had to make her jump." Rose recalled how hard she had to work to convince Sophia to jump, how she couldn't just let go. "I got off the horse and stood underneath her, I told her to swing her legs over and just drop and I would catch her. But I fucked up…"

Rose's body convulsed as she fought to get her breathing back under control. Daryl held her tighter. "I fell because of my knee and I think I broke her arm when we landed." Rose sighed and buried her face into Daryl's bicep a bit. "Our landing startled the horse, so it took off. On it's way out it ran past a walker who had been coming in. She looked so much like her Daryl, so much." Rose shook her head a little.

"Like who?" He asked quietly.

"Like Sophia. It was a little girl. Same age, almost the same hair. I… I didn't know what I was looking at, a walker or a ghost. I had to check twice that I had Sophia beside me and not dead in front of me. But I…" Rose's voice cut out from her.

Daryl accepted that maybe she just couldn't talk anymore about it right now. He brushed his lips against her back again and breathed a soft sigh. His exhale fanned over her skin and brought a small wave of goosebumps across her shoulder.

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't… put her to rest." Rose whispered wretchedly.

"It wasn't your job. You had another little girl to look after." Daryl offered.

"I got Sophia to her feet and dragged her out of there. Moving her as fast as I could, limping like a gimp beside her. We had to get past a few other walkers, I just …shot them too." Rose thought back to her moment's hesitation, how it could have got her and Sophia killed. "We found the creek again. And the horse beside it."

Daryl was pretty sure he was going to make dog food out of that horse in the morning.

"I got Sophia in the saddle and climbed on myself. My knee…" She shook her head again. "my knee is never going to be right again."

"The old man can take a look at it." Daryl reassured her. "It'll be fine."

Rose nodded softly, almost imperceptibly. Daryl felt a little of the tension ease out of her shoulders. He rolled slightly back, pulling her with him so she was against his side, arms holding her tightly to him. Rose closed her eyes and just breathed in Daryl's warmth, listening to his heartbeat her rhythmically to sleep.

The other conversation, the one Daryl had been expecting, the one about them, could wait till tomorrow.


	14. Chapter 14

The lantern was all but dead. Its small fluorescent light had dimmed to little more than a white glowing tube. A nothing compared to the morning's sun lighting the dome. A battery was a small price to pay if it gave her security and a good night's sleep.

She hadn't moved much at all, perhaps curling in a little tighter to herself during her dreams.

Daryl, overheating a bit from her body warmth and not quite use to sharing a bed all night, had rolled onto his back, his arm pinned beneath her neck. He had been looking at a small twig, no bigger than a matchstick, that was stuck in Rose's braid. It was tangled in good, and he didn't know if he could pull it out without waking her.

It was still early, maybe only half an hour past dawn. The stick had been there all night, it could wait a little longer.

Pushing the open sleeping bag off himself to cool down a little, Daryl kept it up on Rose, tucked under her arm. She was naked under the blanket, pressed up against his side. Suddenly he felt stupid for wearing his shirt, because all he wanted was to feel her skin against his own. Even if it was just while they were asleep.

He brought his free hand up to his eyes, roughly wiping away the sleep with the back of his hand. Daryl sighed softly, thinking about nothing in particular, until Rose shifted against his body. He had been less than a half second away from settling his hand down on her side and curling up to her again, when Rose sat up. Slowly and facing away from him, she pushed herself up with her arms and let the sleeping bag fall away behind her, resting in a crumpled pile at her hip.

Daryl pulled his arms back in, lacing his fingers together and resting them on his chest, letting the circulation return to his right hand. He watched her as she found her shirt and dragged it over her head. He didn't say anything as she pulled on her jeans and collected up her underwear and socks, just watched regretfully as her skin was being covered up and removed from his sight. She tugged on her boots, tucking the laces in the sides and stood up on wobbly legs and a bad knee as quietly as she could.

Rose only glanced briefly at Daryl, maybe just for a second, as she exited the dome. Confusing and fleeting.

The tent flap fluttering as she let it drop behind her, and Daryl, pulling his lips in to bite at the inside of his mouth, watching it.

…...

Rose closed her eyes and sighed softly, outside the tent. She kept her mind blank, fighting away anything that tried to creep in and ruin the morning for her. She opened her eyes again and limped slowly towards the green van, looking around at the sweet vista of the Greene farm.

_Don't think about anything. Just look at the scenery and the sunrise._

Elliot had slept in the van, crawling in after swapping out from watch with Rick at 2am. The nights had been warm, and with Rick on watch, Elliot had been sleeping with the side doors open for the last few. He broke from his sleep as he saw the dishevelled creature approaching. A smirk crept on his lips at the unkempt appearance of Rose. Her filthy clothes and hair, her limp and the knowledge of her and Daryl's night time activities made a thousand quips run through his mind and beg for release at his lips. But he held his tongue. For once.

Reaching the Econoline doors, Rose leant into the van and sought out her bag of clothes, flicking her eyes briefly to Elliot's face with a disdainful glare that told him if he said anything right now, she would scratch his eyes out. He just quietly observed her, a twisted smile on his face and in his eyes. Rose gathered up her fresh clothes and turned to limp away again to the farm house.

She only took a few slow steps before she raised her middle finger and flipped off Elliot over her shoulder. He laughed softly to himself and rolled back on the mattress, just glad she was more-or-less okay.

…...

Rose got herself up the steps of the white board farm house, slightly out of breath and a bit noisier than she had meant. Standing in front of the door she was torn between knocking, or just quietly creeping in. The decision was made for her by Maggie, who opened the door to go outside at that same moment.

"Hey." She said quietly, the look of anxiety waning on her face. "How long you been standing there?"

"Not long." Rose admitted, following Maggie's gaze over her shoulder to the camp behind her. "I just came to see if I could use the bathroom."

Maggie looked back to Rose's face, almost as if only just noticing her for the first time. "Uh… yeah. Of course." Maggie stepped back and held the door open for Rose. "Do you need a hand?" Maggie asked watching Rose limp over the threshold.

"Um, no. I'm okay. How is Sophia?" Rose asked, unsure how she would feel about the answer.

"Her arm was broken." Maggie said, confirming Rose's thoughts and sending a hot dagger through her chest. "And she was malnourished, but daddy said she will be okay. We'll have to get you in to see him next." Maggie said, guiding Rose forward through the house. "But now you've got two options; downstairs shower, or upstairs bath?"

A bath was what Rose was really aching for, hot water to settle in and soothe her aching muscles and damaged knee. But all those stairs…

"Shower." Rose replied sighing. "Please."

…...

A red dot of blood, leaching through the white bandages around his middle, evidence he popped a stitch last night. Couldn't say it wasn't worth it.

He pulled on a fresh shirt and jeans, dug out from the bottom of his bag. A small twitch flitted through his face as he softly prodded his wound. Daryl switched the lantern off, pointlessly just out of habit, and collected up his socks and boots. The morning air was always refreshing after a night in the tent. He sat down in the doorway of the dome, tying off the door to the side, and pulled on his footwear.

"Hey man." Elliot's quiet austere greeting interrupted Daryl's thoughts about Rose.

"Hey." He replied flatly.

_Here it comes._

Daryl had heard this once or twice before in his life. 'If you hurt her, I'll kill you.' Protective brothers or friends of girls he was with always assumed he would be the one to hurt them.

"Look man." Elliot began, crouching down in front of Daryl and his tent, keeping his voice low. "She say anything to you about what happened out there yesterday?"

Elliot's question caught Daryl by surprise. It took him a second or two to get his brain into gear and answer. "Yeah. She told me what happened."

"Walkers? Did she have to… do anything?" Elliot's vague questioning made Daryl unsure what the hell was happening.

"Yeah. She shot a couple. In a barn." Daryl shrugged and squinted at Elliot, confused about the line of questioning.

"Fuck." Elliot said bluntly, looking away to the farm behind him. He looked back to Daryl and shook his head, standing up. Daryl got to his feet, angry, and ready to punch Elliot if he didn't start talking. "She ain't like us man." Elliot half explained, rounding on Daryl. "She don't see 'em the way we do."

"See 'em how?" Daryl asked, eyeing Elliot apprehensively.

"As monsters." Elliot shook his head, keeping his voice to a harsh whisper. "She looks at 'em and can't help but see… their faces, their clothes. She can't look at them not see the humans they were, instead'a the monsters they are now. She ain't killed any of 'em before now."

Daryl screwed up his face and looked at Elliot disbelievingly. "Didn't you an' her just clean out the church the other day?"

"Yeah." Elliot replied, nodding his head. "Same play we always run. She's the bait, I take 'em out."

"The fuck…?" Daryl hissed angrily.

"Don't worry man." Elliot reassured, looking towards the farmhouse where he knew Rose was. "I don't let her get in danger. I keep her alive."

"She fucked up her knee, being your bait." Daryl said a little louder, stepping into Elliot's space.

"Hey man. It's her plan, and I never let them get anywhere near her." Elliot stood a little taller. He had a good four inches on Daryl but neither was scared of a brawl.

Their words and tension had drawn a few onlookers. T-Dog, Andrea, Glenn and Carol peering discreetly to watch the disagreement. Rick emerged from his tent behind Lori, stepping forward to break up the argument before it could blow.

"Hey guys." Glenn called, standing with his hat in hand. He shifted his weight around, uncomfortably looking around at the faces of the group as he tried to find the best way to say what needed to be said. He swallowed dryly and opened his mouth. "The barn's full of walkers."

…...

Stepping out onto the front porch of the family home, Rose could see the flurry of excitement beside the barn. The whole group was there, discussing something that Rose just didn't have the energy or will to care about.

Her knee was feeling good. After her slightly clumsy shower, Hershel had redressed it with an elasticised bandage and the extra support felt miraculous.

The old veterinarian had chosen not to chastise Rose for taking Nellie, but he did mention he would like his equipment returned. Only once the dressing was complete, did he speak to her again, telling her to let her leg heal and rest.

Rose decided to just keep away from the group for now. She needed some space. She tied her laces on her boots and found her cane, beside the front door. Despite Hershel's advice, she had things to do.

Making herself scarce was easier than she thought it was going to be. The farm was big and almost everyone was at the barn anyway. For whatever reason.

Walking around the back of the house, to avoid interrupting the heated discussion between Maggie and Glenn near the chicken coup, Rose ran into Beth, who had just finished hanging out some laundry on the clothes line. Empty basket in hand, the young girl smiled at Rose, a little shy.

"Hey …Beth?" Rose asked, double checking the youngest Greene's name.

She nodded a reply and stepped towards Rose, cradling the laundry basket on her hip.

"Doin' anything?" Rose asked.

"No." Beth smiled sweetly.

"Wanna come for a walk?" Rose asked. "I need to go get your pop's horse gear from the tree line back there, and I could use some mindless girl talk on the way."

"Okay." Beth shrugged.

"Bring the basket." Rose said, limping towards the back fence. "So tell me about you…"

…...

Dale was watching Shane get more and more agitated, from his position beside the RV. His concern for the safety of the group was swelling with every step Shane took closer to dangerous waters. Not to mention Andrea.

It hadn't escaped Dale's attention, the strange familiarity between Andrea and Shane after they returned from the housing estate the other day. Sad desperation for the safety of the daughter-he-never-had had him seeking another outlet for Shane's attention.

And with all his shouting about the safety of the camp, it wouldn't be long before the spiralling former police officer came for the weapons.

"Elliot." Dale said quietly to the man sitting at the picnic table, who had been discreetly watching Daryl packing up his tent and gear, while sharpening his knife. "I think we need to talk about Shane and Andrea."

…...

"_This world, it changes you. Either into one of them or something a lot less than the person you were."_

Rick's words had made an impact on Hershel, even if he chose not to show it. He had listened to the desperate leader plead to let the group stay on his property, but it had been Maggie who's words really convinced him to consider it.

It was only when Jimmy had come into the house and announced that 'it had happened again', that Hershel saw the opportunity to see how willing Rick was to bend to his beliefs.

…...

Daryl threw his bedding into his tent, a little winded from the physical activity. Moving his gear and bike on this hot fucking morning hadn't been such a great idea, but it had to be done. It was time to get a bit of space between him and these people.

He stood up, wiped the sweat away from his forehead and shielded his eyes from the sun, looking around the farm grounds. He saw who he was looking for.

Rose, and the little blonde one, were walking (or limping) towards the horse stables, carrying the stolen equipment back from the property fence line.

Picking up his canteen and slinging his crossbow over his shoulder, Daryl decided he could make up the bed properly tonight and walked over towards the stables.

…...

"Where the hell is Dale?" Shane asked, sweaty and worked up.

He had stomped over to the RV, determined and decisively. His morning beside the barn had done him no favours.

"DALE!" Shane hollered.

Elliot jumped out of the van and walked over to Shane, shoulders back. "What's your problem Shane?"

"I'm looking for Dale." Shane answered, spinning around to face Elliot, but not looking up to meet his eye. "The old fool has gone and hidden the guns, right when we need them more than ever."

"That's not what I asked." Elliot spoke slower, stepping up into Shane's space. "I said, what's _your_ problem?"

Shane stepped back a little, caught off guard but quickly collecting himself. He tilted his head, and fixed his eyes directly on Elliot's. "What do you think you're doin' man?" He hissed.

"I think it's time we had a fuckin' talk." Elliot growled back.

"I ain't talkin' shit with you." Shane drew himself up taller, missing Elliot's height but not letting it deter him. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, like a pitbull backed into a corner. "You want someone to talk with, you go see Rick. Me? I'm gonna do what shoulda been done this mornin'!" He spat back at Elliot.

"GUYS! Stop it!" Glenn shouted from the RV roof.

"Stay the fuck away from Andrea. And Dale." Elliot warned as he stepped up to Shane, leaning down into his face.

Shane didn't buckle, despite his hand instinctually moving to where his sidearm should be. A small glint twisted into his face as he realised what this was actually about. He cocked his head slightly and whispered real quiet , so only Elliot would hear. "She wanted it."

…...

Daryl stopped short of the horse stables, hearing the two girls chatting away on the other side of the wall. He didn't want to interrupt their conversation because he could hear Rose. She was talking quite animatedly to the younger Greene sister, and it sat right with Daryl to hear her actually in good spirits.

He leaned back against the barn wall, waiting for the moment he could shoo away the little girl and have Rose to himself. Ask a few questions that needed answers. The conversation behind the wall caught his attention when he realised they were talking personal.

"There ain't no point getting tied down or worked up about some guy." Rose spoke with Beth as they worked together brushing down Nellie. "He ain't the only man out there left alive. And just cause you enjoy having sex with a guy does not mean you are married to him. By the way, DO NOT tell your dad I told you any of this."

"I wont. But you really believe that?" Beth asked, smiling unsure at the woman's words.

"Of course!" Rose laughed in reply. "Keep it light, I say. The lighter you travel, the further you go."

Daryl nodded his head to himself. He bit at the side of his mouth and stalked off, back to his private camp. There was no need to ask the question now, he got all the answers he needed.

…...

"Elliot? What the hell happened to your face?" Andrea asked, scowling at the split skin on his cheek bone and the discolouration of fresh bruises blooming and swelling on his jaw.

"What the fuck is going on with you and Shane?" Elliot asked, his words edgy with a sheen of barely controlled anger. He had sought out Andrea to see if there was any chance Dale had been mistaken. Elliot angrily swatted away her hand as she reached out to touch his face.

"Shane did this?" Her voice was a shrill whisper. Andrea's eyes dropped from Elliot's damages to the ground before she looked past him to the camp, searching out the man in question.

"HEY!" Elliot barked, Andrea's eyes snapping back to his face. "I asked you what happened."

Andrea, tight in her chest, could only shake her head, speechless.

It wasn't until Shane's voice broke the quiet of the farm, near the house, that Andrea finally dropped her eyes, ashamed.

Elliot turned his back to Andrea, spat to the side and walked back to the camp. Ignoring Shane's ranting and handing out guns to the startled group, he sought out some solitude on watch atop the RV.


	15. Chapter 15

_That fuckin' jarhead. I'm gonna smash his teeth in when I see him next. We got shit to settle._

Shane clenched the steering wheel tighter as he fought back the ache in his jaw and the ringing in his head. The punch-on he had earlier with Elliot had been all the tipping point Shane needed to finally do what should have been done as soon as they found out about that barn full of walkers. The back of his head still throbbed in sync with the twitch in his bruised face. He was trying to keep his slightly blurred eyes focused on the dark road, looking for any sign of Lori.

_Lori, goddamn it. What were you thinking. Runnin' out here after a man who can't even keep you safe. I would have gone after him, if it worried you that much. Why didn't you let me know? Why didn't you trust me to bring him back, instead'a comin out here after him yourself._

His frustration growing, like a poisonous vine, with every passing minute, every turn in the road that Lori had driven out here, away from the farm, looking for Rick.

_He can't keep Lori safe like I can. He's runnin' off all the time, trying to hold on to a pipedream. Rick don't understand what it's got to be like anymore. He just ain't built for this world. Just as delusional as that old man Hershel, livin' in fantasyland. Denial of how bad the world is around him, what's plain in front of his eyes. _

_Rick can't keep Lori and Carl safe. He can't keep the baby safe._

_I keep everybody safe._

Shane rubbed at his eyes, brushing his hand back over his short clippered hair. He thought about everything he had done to keep the group safe and alive. It was all just fine until Rick had come along and started making the wrong calls. Shane banged the heel of his hand back down on the steering wheel.

_Rick shoulda just died in that hospital._

The speedometer on the Hyundai was creeping up as Shane unthinkingly pressed harder on the accelerator. He grit his teeth and gripped the wheel. Lori still no where in sight. His mind drifted to the day in the woods near the quarry, the day it could have all been over and Lori would have moved on again by now. Except Dale saw him that day, rifle trained on Rick's unseeing and unsuspecting back, didn't he?

_That son-of-a-bitch Dale. 'This world, the way it is now… This is where you belong.' Tell me why that's a bad thing, you old fool. He thinks he's 'Mr moral authority, the voice of reason'. What does he do? Fix up an RV… babysit some guns. He pointed one of those rifles at my chest but just couldn't pull the trigger. If I'm such a threat, what did he do to stop me? I smashed open that barn. I saved Carl. That's me. That ain't him. That ain't Rick. That's me._

Shane squinted to focus his vision as he approached the turned over car on the side of the road, the car Lori had taken. His stomach plunged and turned to ice at the sight of the smashed vehicle and the body lying on the ground behind it.

"Holy shit Lor. What have you done?"

**_*Hi guys... me again._**

**_Do you like these little adventures into peoples heads? I may make it a recurring thing._**

**_Additional: Just some quick shout outs..._**

**_Thanks again to Missing Pieces followers and favouriters. As always, I would love to hear from you. Don't be shy._**

**_NanamiYatsumaki and Sweetkiwi604 you guys rock, big time! SK604 - I hope you don't mind that I skipped barnageddon. I am trying my best to keep the story interesting so I don't want to just rehash tv story line. Think of it as exactly the same, but without the Sophia bit, obviously. x._**

**_SilverAdvenger12- Hi, thanks for the review. I will admit i created Elliot to kill him off, but he is really starting to grow on me. I think he might stick around. x._**

_**hideher - You made me laugh with your doctor comment. I am now questioning my subconscious. I though I came up with Rose's name out of the blue but now I think it might have been a touch of the 'bad wolf'. p.s. Thanks for letting me borrow your boyfriend. x.**_


	16. Chapter 16

"Oh shit. There she is." Elliot exclaimed to himself, in his over-the-top sarcastic voice he only reserved for Rose. He didn't look up at her for long, returning to digging through his bag. "Where the fuck did you sleep last night?"

"On the couch in the house." Rose answered as she shielded her eyes from the low burning morning sun in front of her. What she didn't say was she had stayed in the house to be near Beth, in case the young girl came to from her catatonic state. Rose rubbed at her stiff thigh muscle as she walked up to Elliot, who was dressing beside the green van. "You coming or what? Gonna go get Rick, before Lori tries anything again."

Elliot dragged his shirt over his head and down his body, turning his eyes back to Rose questioningly. "Why you? The fuck's happenin' with your leg?"

"What, you care all of a sudden?" Rose snapped at him. "It's fine."

Elliot looked past the RV, across the wide space between the camp and Daryl's far away tent. He turned back to face Rose, but didn't look at her. Instead he busied himself with the zipper of his duffel while he spoke. "You ain't talked to the redneck yet?"

Rose rolled her eyes with a sharp scornful exhale through her nose, before replying. "He clearly isn't interested in talking about anything," She gestured to the expanse between the two camps with a snappish flick of her wrist. "Can we just fucking go already?"

Elliot reached further into the van and picked up his M4 rifle. "Yeah, okay."

"Good." She huffed. "And on the way to find the guys, you can tell me what the fuck happened to your face."

After closing up the van, Elliot and Rose walked/limped briskly to the blue farm truck of Otis's. Rose gave Lori a short nod as they passed her, letting her know that her request for help had been heard and her and Elliot were going to find out what has happened to Rick, Glenn and Hershel.

Lori breathed a short puff of relief. With Daryl in self-appointed solitude and Shane refusing to split the group up further to look, Lori's thoughts and emotions were a cataclysm, tearing her to pieces inside, thinking the worst.

Shane glared at the two walking off towards the truck. His sour disposition twisting his face and hunching his shoulders. He wouldn't stop them. It was no skin off his nose if neither of them returned either.

Rose reached the passenger side door and pulled the handle, opening the steel door with a rusted groan. She stumbled back slightly, the weight of the door catching her off guard with her knee. She managed to keep herself up right, and discreetly looked around to see if anyone noticed her slip.

He saw.

Daryl had been walking towards the vehicles, loaded up with his crossbow and the shotgun he still had from yesterday at the barn. Packing like that, he was probably about to go out and look for Rick and Glenn himself.

"The hell you think you're goin'?" He called angrily at Rose as he approached the blue truck. Daryl rounded on Elliot. "Takin' yer bait with ya?"

"Fuck off man." Elliot brushed him off as he opened the driver's side door. "She's taking me."

Daryl walked to Rose's side and grabbed her arm, pulling her back from the door and putting himself between her and the truck. He turned her to face him as he growled "Get the fuck outta here." and shoved her off towards the camp. "We goin' or ya wanna stand around bitchin' all mornin'?" He spat at Elliot as he climbed in the passenger seat.

Rose tripped again when Daryl pushed her, but kept her balance. The short stab of pain in her knee was eclipsed by the wave of frustration and anger at Daryl. It was one thing to ignore her but another all together to be out rightly rough and an asshole to her. She already had one guy like that in her life, she didn't need it from him too.

Turning to face the truck, her burgeoning rage was distracted as she caught sight of the familiar vehicle coming up the gravel driveway. Daryl pulled the passenger side door shut behind him and Elliot put the truck into reverse, clearly not noticing the approaching car. Rose bent down quickly and picked up a large piece of rock from the driveway. She threw it at the car windscreen in frustration as Elliot started pulling away. The glass cracked, a thin single line without shattering in front of Daryl, and Elliot hit the brakes.

"What the fuck Rose?" Elliot yelled, swinging open his door, visibly worked up from the shock.

Rose gave him the finger and then pointed at the station wagon driving up the entrance, before turning and limping off towards the farm house.

Elliot and Daryl exchanged a strange look, one of confusion and questioning tinged with a true streak of wariness, before getting out of the truck to join the others at the house.

Rose left a small cloud-trail of kicked up dust as she hurried lamely over to the farmhouse where Rick was pulling up in the station wagon. Everyone appeared to be okay.

Rick met Rose's eyes over Lori's shoulder as he got out of the vehicle and embraced his wife. Rose shook her head subtly with a tight relieved smile on her lips. She tried to send him a look that said 'don't do that again' despite knowing that he would put himself out there as much as it took to keep everyone safe.

"Patricia," Hershel called to his veterinary assistant, who was standing in the farmhouse door way. "Prepare the shed for surgery."

"Surgery?" Lori stood back from her husband and quickly looked him up and down, making sure he wasn't hurt. "Who for?" Her eyes, like everyone else's, jumping from Rick to Glenn.

"Who the hell is that?" T-Dog asked, pointing into the back seat of the car.

Rose ducked down to follow T-Dogs gesture. The sight of the kid, about Glenn's age in the back seat, blindfolded and bound, made Rose's empty stomach lurch. Her eyes looked up again, questioningly meeting Rick's apologetic expression.

Glenn answered. "That's Randall."

…...

The discussion in the Greene family dining room had been a brief but distressing one. Rick explaining what happened in town with the two guys from the other group, being shot at by the other men and then collecting Randall from the iron gate he was impaled on. They had to hold up in an abandoned house just outside of town overnight, Hershel field dressing Randall's leg so he didn't immediately bleed out.

Nobody had any real solution for the 'Randall problem', least of all Shane who was just huffing around like a wounded bear, telling everyone they were back in 'fantasyland'. Rick stuck to the only plan that made any sense, fix Randall up then drop him off far away to fend for himself.

Rose had slipped out, away from the argument, and was heading off towards the camp.

"Rose." Carol's soft voice floated up behind the retreating woman. She briefly considered what would happen if she just ignored Carol and kept walking, but knew she couldn't hide forever. Turning to face the self-effacing mother, Rose held a small breath tight in her chest, like it would somehow protect her, or at least help keep her from feeling like shit. It wasn't working. "Rose, I didn't get a chance to thank you yet, for bringing my baby girl back."

Rose just pulled her mouth in to a weak line. She tried to make a smile but her facial muscles just wouldn't cooperate. Nodding was the only response she could offer Carol. If Rose opened her mouth she didn't know what would come out. She might have hissed at Carol to never let her daughter out of her sight again, or she might have just broken down and cried until she couldn't cry any more. Most likely she would have just screamed at Carol not to thank her and ran off as best she could on a damaged knee. That was what, it seems, her body was leaning towards. Containing herself behind her stony expression, Rose just nodded and turned again to walk to the camp.

Slipping quietly into the Econoline before anyone else could seek her out, Rose closed the side doors and settled into the bed sheets to let out the tears that Carol had forced into the back of her constricted throat.

…...

Some time later when the mid-afternoon sun began heating the tin box she was in, Rose emerged from the green van. Eyes red from crying herself into nothingness, she had found her pair of sunglasses that she hadn't worn since Charlotte, and shielded herself behind the dark plastic. She was exhausted and nauseous from hunger, her body simply wouldn't allow her to remain a hermit.

"Hello there." Dale called from on top of the nearby RV. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine Dale." Rose replied, her cracked voice betraying her lie.

"Well if you would like some lunch, I believe Carol reserved some potato salad inside for you." Dale pointed to the mobile kitchen beneath him.

Her hunger won out. Rose retrieved the bowl of starchy hunger-smashing lunch and took a seat in the empty circle of chairs by the fire.

"Your leg looks good." Dale commented on Rose's knee from his perch.

"Dale, don't you think you should buy me a drink first?" Rose quietly quipped back to the older man, not quite a smile on her face.

"And your spirit seems better too." Dale answered back, humorously discomfited from Rose's dry cheek.

Rose turned her seat to face Dale and started eating her lunch, her gesture prompting Dale to believe she wanted to continue talking.

"You did a good thing, finding Sophia." Dale said quietly.

"Don't want to talk about that Dale." Rose cut him off before he could say anymore. She looked up from her potatoes at the all-seeing man on the roof. She pushed her sunglasses a little further up her nose. "You know pretty much everything that is going on around here Dale. What happened to Elliot?"

Dale felt guilty and palled slightly at her question. "Ah, I may have had a hand in that." Dale confessed, causing Rose to sit up and listen, a little more than interested in what he had to say. "I informed Elliot of a certain situation, which upset him and sent him after Shane. A distraction while I tried to hide the guns yesterday."

Dale's coy play with words told Rose he was uncomfortable saying exactly what the 'certain situation' was. She just nodded and returned to her lunch.

"Rose," Dale tried again to continue the conversation, getting to the real meat of his reason for starting up the idle chat. "What is your opinion on the decision about the young man Rick and the others brought back from the town?"

Rose again looked up at Dale, finishing her mouthful and considering her stance. She swallowed and pulled the sunglasses down so Dale could fully appreciate the seriousness of her reply, hopefully conveying that this was going to be her one and only comment on this issue. "Whatever Rick says."

…...

"Can I take that for you?" Glenn asked, rousing Rose from her dazed thoughts. She had finished her lunch and just closed her eyes for a bit, letting the days warmth and a full stomach lull her into oblivion. The bowl had been just about to slip from her fingertips when Glenn approached.

"No, I got it. Thanks." Rose stirred, sitting up in her chair from her slumped position.

"Okay." Glenn shrugged. "Uh… just in case no one has said it yet," He spoke quietly to Rose, not that there was anyone but Dale around to hear. "Thanks for finding Sophia."

Rose sighed and looked unseeingly at the bowl in her hands. She was sick of it but people just kept seeking her out to thank her for her stupidity. She didn't want to say that she didn't even do it for Sophia, who she had believed was dead, she did it for Daryl. The man who had now moved as far away as he could get without actually leaving the group all together.

Glenn misunderstood Rose's silence and elaborated on his recognition of her effort. "It's just… it meant so much to everyone. Finding her, you know? We've lost others, but this was Sophia. The whole group, this one was different."

Leaning forward in her seat, Rose could feel her lunch creeping up slightly in her stomach, threatening her with nausea. She couldn't hear another word. Putting her hand up to stop Glenn from continuing, she looked up briefly at him from behind her sunglasses and nodded a tight-lipped smile at him.

Glenn got the sign, and dropped it. He looked at her, slightly concerned at her green appearance, and decided to make himself scarce. With a nod, he turned and walked to the back of the RV and climbed up the ladder to take watch from Dale.

Rose placed the empty bowl in her lap and pulled her hair back from her face. The warmth of the summer sun was making small droplets of sweat run through her scalp. Wrangling the handfuls of dirty blonde waves, she lifted her hair off the back of her neck and tied it back in a knot with a rubber band she kept loosely around her wrist. The air circulation on her clammy skin felt wonderful as she got to her feet and made off towards the kitchen to return her borrowed bowl.

Andrea, Shane and T-Dog were kicking back against the shaded trees near the farmhouse, casually stringing along a conversation. Carol, Lori, and the kids were over at the chicken coup. Carl animatedly pointing out the different chicks and hens to Sophia, who was sitting close by her mother's side, smiling weakly and cradling her plaster cast wrist.

Only Elliot and Rick really captured Rose's interest. They were standing quite close together by the parked vehicles. Elliot leaning back against the truck, wearing the same expression he has when Rose was chewing him out about something. Rick had one hand resting on his hip, the other gesturing as he talked with his body language as much as his mouth. From the way the pair of them kept peering over at Shane's back, she surmised it was about the fight the two men had had.

Rose pushed her sunglasses back up her face and continued to the house.

Negotiating the stairs was becoming easier, but still a challenge with the bowl in hand. Rose made it inside, a little warmer after her effort, and shuffled into the kitchen, placing her bowl in the sink.

"Hey, gonna wash that?" Maggie's voice behind her made Rose jump and spin around, a little hasty on her leg.

"Probably not." Rose shook her head softly, a small smile on her lips.

She knew she probably looked like a douche bag wearing her sunglasses in the house, but the dark lenses were her thin shield, protecting her from questions like 'Are you okay?'

Maggie walked over and stood leaning against the island bench top, facing Rose. She wore the same look on her face as Rose. Exhaustion and sadness, masked with a sense of dry humour.

"How's Beth?" Rose asked, looking briefly over Maggie's shoulder towards the front bedroom. Her concern for the younger sister was genuine, having really enjoyed just getting to know her only yesterday.

"Daddy gave her a sedative to relax her a bit." she sighed. "But she's still out of it." Maggie's arms were folded loosely under her bust, subconsciously holding and comforting herself. Rose wanted to reach out and soothe Maggie herself, but she could tell the tall brunette preferred to stand alone. Or at least, it wasn't Rose's affection that she wanted.

Rose chewed at her lip. Her body trying to contain the question on the tip of her tongue. Looking away from Maggie to the floor, Rose just asked. "You and Glenn okay?"

"I don't know." Maggie shrugged, unsure exactly if her and Glenn were okay after he blew her off earlier when he and the others returned. "What about you and him?" Maggie nodded towards the back window of the kitchen.

Rose turned and looked over her shoulder, past the white lace curtains, out to the open grassy paddock at the back of the farm house.

Daryl walked with hunched shoulders, crossbow slung across his back and a string of squirrels at his side. He had a sharp determination in his eyes as he strode with an attitude that said 'leave me alone', back towards his private camp.

Rose didn't turn back to look at Maggie as she answered, just kept her eyes on Daryl as he disappeared from view. "There isn't any 'me and him'."

_*** I know… not much action. Am I right?**_

_**I need to get in some story and it makes it a little subdued. But what it lacks in content, I will make up in volume. Three chapters in rapid fire. Sound fair?**_

_**X.**_


	17. Chapter 17

**_* Wow, what an outpour! Loving the love guys. Thanks for the reviews. Here, have some more story. x.  
_**

It was definitely late summer, Rose mused to herself as she dragged a hoodie out of the van. She held the soft grey material in her hand, contemplating whether or not it was appropriate. She thumbed the CDC print logo on the back, trying to empathise how the others would feel about the reminder of the loss of Jacqui and everything else that had happened at the government facility.

Rose didn't have much choice. The late summer weather was hot and dry during the day, but the nights were cool and tainted with a sharp breeze. Moonlit darkness had settled around the farm, thin and clear. Everyone needed to rug up more now. The problem was Rose didn't have anything else warm to wear, and the soft fleecy cotton was clean and new and so inviting.

Elliot had grabbed it and shoved it in her bag without her knowledge back when they thought the CDC was going to be their safe haven. Back before they really even knew these people they now shared their lives with and would give anything to keep them safe.

_How quickly that happened._

Rose reflected on the almost immediate trust and friendship with this group that her and Elliot had literally thrown themselves into. Relationships that are forged from hardship and trials are truly amazing. Blooming and strengthened through adversity and suffering.

_The brightest lightning from the darkest storm._

The words had appeared in her head as though she had heard them before. Rose's heart beat a little harder in her chest. Fearing that she was getting too close to 'the wall' in her mind, Rose blanked her thoughts and just pulled on the grey hoodie. It was dark, maybe no one would see it anyway.

Rose flexed her knee, testing it, before walking over to the back of the RV. She put her hands to the ladder and sighed, fortifying herself for the climb. Awkwardly coordinating her limbs, Rose managed to use her arms more and kept her weight on her left leg as much as possible.

Her soft groaning was heard by Glenn on the RV roof. He moved to the edge and looked over, seeing a very determined Rose more than half way up. "What are you doing?" Glenn asked incredulously, shaking his head and trying to work out how to stop her.

"Making myself useful." Rose grumbled. "I'm going on watch for the night."

"No. It's fine." Glenn affirmed. "I'm fine."

"You've been using this as an excuse all afternoon." Rose huffed, pulling herself up another rung. "It's my turn now."

"Excuse for what?" Glenn asked puzzled.

"For getting out of having to talk to Maggie." She looked up at him, catching him square in the eyes and seeing his expression falter. "She told me earlier you were being weird to her. Go fix it." Rose ordered.

Glenn looked over at the farmhouse, now certain he could feel Maggie watching him from her concealed shadowed porch chair.

"She deserves to know what's going on in your head Glenn." Rose grunted as she pulled herself up another rung, nearing the top. She saw Glenn swallow a hard lump in his throat before he looked back down at her. Extending out her hand to him, she smiled at his pallid expression. "Help me up."

Glenn reached down and locked wrists with Rose, helping her drag herself up and over the edge of the RV. She rolled onto her back and breathed; the exertion had been the most activity she had put herself through all day. Looking up at Glenn, she could see a look of determination had spawned on his face.

"Go on." She ushered, sitting up. "I got this." Rose waved him off.

"Are you okay with the rifle?" Glenn asked, helping Rose up to her feet before moving to the ladder and swinging a leg over behind him.

She hopped over to the camp chair Dale had set up there and sat down again. "No. I can't shoot for shit. I'm a terrible shot." She laughed softly. "But I can scream pretty loud."

"I thought… didn't you… shoot walkers the other day?" Glenn stuttered, unsure whether he should bring up the bit of gossip he had heard about Rose's rescue.

The humour dropped out of Rose's face. She turned away from Glenn, looking out to the farm fence line. "You don't have to be a good shot from two feet away, Glenn."

…...

Rose had kept watch all night. Rick had tried to relieve her sometime in the early hours, maybe 1am if she had to guess, but he looked worse than she did. Sending him to bed, she pulled her hoodie a little tighter around herself and settled in for the graveyard shift.

Fighting it as much as she could, Rose couldn't help but look over at Daryl's camp, a lot more frequently than watch would require. If anything, it kept her mind turning and wide awake. Rose had watched his small fire burn to a soft glow then falter to nothing, having exhausted it's fuel source a few hours before dawn. The disappearance of the fire made the distance between the two camps seem even greater.

Watching the dawn crack the horizon and meditating in the painted colours of sunrise, Rose decided she would be taking this watch from now on. She would be able to avoid people most of the time, maybe only joining them for meal times, and sleeping during the day. Elliot could have the van at night and Rose could treat herself to the orange and pink and purple and teal and so many other unnameable colours of dawn.

Carol was first to emerge from the RV into camp, drawing her thin cardigan around her shoulders tightly, warding herself from the crisp morning air. She smiled meekly at Rose on the RV roof, receiving a small wave in return, and busied getting a fire started to boil water and cook breakfast. The Greene's had been generous enough with their food stocks, supplying the camp with a large bag of oats and other staples. Perhaps it was an attempt on Hershel's part to keep them as separate as possible from the house, but it was appreciated none the less. It wasn't long before Carol had the large cast iron pot boiling away and the oats stewing inside, making the hot and satisfying breakfast.

Dale appeared next, from the dome tent beside the RV. He had given up the bed in the motor home to Carol and Sophia, insisting they at least stay there until Sophia is back up to strength. Carol passed him a cup of tea. Thanking her, Dale made his way to the RV ladder, ready to swap with Rose for watch.

"Morning Dale." Rose murmured, getting to her feet as he breached the edge of the roof. Her knee was stiff, but not bad.

"Good Morning Rose." Dale smiled back.

"She's all yours." Rose gestured to the deck chair and rifle, swapping places with him and getting on the ladder.

Rose manoeuvred herself down, not nearly as hard as going up, and walked over to Carol and the fire's warmth. Rick materialized from the Grimes' dome and joined the two ladies in the camp centre, his expression faulting slightly at the logo printed on the back of Rose's jumper.

Sitting down in one of the folding chairs, Rose drew her sunglasses out of the hoodie's front pocket and put them on.

_Shields up._

Others surfaced before long. Andrea, T-Dog, Glenn… all sitting down around the fire, waiting for the first meal of the day.

"I'll get the coffee going." Lori told Carol, brushing her softly across the shoulders. Those words were the last spoken that morning, other than quiet 'thank you's' to Carol and Lori when people received their breakfast. Rose surmised she wasn't the only one who just wanted to be left to her thoughts.

Rose broke up the first part of the day with a short list of jobs. Washing dishes with Carol, sitting with Beth for a little time while putting the Greene's washing machine to work on her pile of filthy clothes. She hung out the clothes on the line in camp and excused herself, disappearing into the van for her sleep, happy she had managed to avoid too much human interaction and had been able to keep herself from looking at Daryl's camp again.

…...

"Elliot." Andrea called, while she jogged over to his side.

Elliot had been walking over to the shed to check on the kid, to make sure he lived through the night. "Whaddya want Andrea?"

"I want to apologise." She stated sadly, putting her hand to his arm to slow his advance.

Elliot looked at her with a mix of distaste and pity. He shirked his arm away from her touch and walked off, shaking his head.

"Hey, I'm trying to make this right." She argued to his silence, no longer following his steps.

"You can do whatever the fuck you want Andrea." Elliot said, looking ahead at the shed.

"I just want to explain." She defended. "Shane and I…"

"You honestly think I want to hear details?!" Elliot cut her off, spinning around to face Andrea but still walking backwards away from her. "Get the fuck outta here. I got shit to do." He brushed her away with a wave of his hand and turned back towards the shed.

…...

"_No. I'm sorry Rose. This just simply isn't good enough" The leather-faced older woman's stale breath, filled the close space between her face and Rose's._

"_But I tried. I really tried so hard." Rose pleaded._

"_Did you?" The hook-nosed old bat tilted her head, reminding Rose of some sort of dangerous bird._

_Teenaged Rose retreated quickly from the accusation. "I think I did my best."_

"_And yet…" The crooked teacher dropped the failed exam sheet in front of Rose. The large glowing 'F' seared into Rose's eyes, imprinting on her optical nerve so that every time she closed her eyelids or stood in a dark room, the failing grade would emerge from the black like an illusion._

Rose woke with the same ill feeling in the back of her throat.

_Great. Now even my dreams are calling me that stupid name._

Rose tried to ignore the gnawing feeling in her stomach, much like she ignored the naked girl magazine cut outs on the ceiling above her. Rolling over to her stomach she vowed that she would be washing the bedding tomorrow morning, before the bacteria in the sheets had a chance to spawn.

Her dreams seemed to be more and more defeating lately. The blame and hurt she contained at the back of her mind, disturbing her in her unconscious and vulnerable state like Freddy Krueger.

Rubbing at her eyes hard, Rose willed herself to sit up and get out of the van. It was already the afternoon. Pulling on her boots, Rose pushed open the van doors and slid out, trying to channel her muscles into cooperation. She rolled her neck, releasing the built up crick in with a soft crunch, getting up and walking over to Lori and Carol at the picnic table.

1 large pot

1 side of beef from Hershel's cattle

A variety of unwashed and unpeeled vegetables

"Stew for dinner?" Rose asked the moms.

"Yes." Carol smiled, happy that Rose was talking to her again. She had received little more than vague gestures since she thanked Rose the other day.

Rose slid a chopping board and peeler in front of herself and the pile of potatoes. "Anything fancy, or just peel and dice?"

…...

Elliot had been hovering around the cars all day. Busy work. He checked oil, fluids, fuel… blah, blah, blah… It was important to keep the vehicles in good order, just in case an emergency escape was on the cards. But mostly, it was just busy work. Keeping his mind occupied and his hands from idleness.

He looked discreetly over his shoulder, back at the shed. Rick and Shane were having another heated and hushed discussion. No doubt it started about Randall, but with how long they had been going at it, surely it was back to Rick's decisions for the group by now. It seemed to be Shane's favourite tune these days. Along with the sound of his own voice.

Pushing the last electrical lead back on the distributor of the old truck, Elliot wiped his hands on his shirt and stuck his arm in the driver's side window. He turned the engine over, it starting up much easier and cleaner than before. He let it run for a minute, inconspicuously watching Rick and Shane's disagreement fizzle out as it usually does. Killing the engine, Elliot walked back to the front of the truck and closed the bonnet.

Shane stalked off, walking like he had sand in his crack, leaving Rick standing in front of the shed, pinching his nose between his eyes as if fighting off a headache. A headache with Shane's name written all over it.

Elliot didn't want any part of it. That was their problem.

He turned back to face the truck, resting his arms on the hood, wiping roughly at his eyes and mouth with his cleaner right hand. Resting his chin on his palm, Elliot looked up in time to see the redneck stalking back from his day of hunting in the woods.

It probably wasn't a good idea, he knew that. But Elliot wasn't a man to just let shit hang in the air, stinking up the place. He closed up the toolbox he had been working out of at his feet, and put it in the back of the truck, deciding he could look over the station wagon later. Elliot walked slowly up to the loner's camp, giving Daryl plenty of time to get there first.

Daryl looked up from his skinning as Elliot approached. Wrist deep in rabbit offal, he wasn't exactly in a chatty mood.

"Hey man." Elliot mumbled. Hands in his pockets, he took a seat on a nearby turned over log.

Daryl looked him over briefly without stopping his work. He pulled the last of the intestinal tract out of the bunny and dropped it in the bucket beside him.

Elliot ignored the elapsed manners and just looked around Daryl's camp. "How's the suburbs?"

"Do you want somethin'?" Daryl asked gruffly.

Elliot scratched at his head, still looking around. "Nahh. Just catchin' up with ya."

Daryl squinted at Elliot, the low afternoon sun coming in from above the trees beside the camp.

"Oh shit!" Elliot exclaimed chuckling, spying the necklace of walker ears hanging from Daryl's string line. "Check out that shit." Elliot stood up and got a closer look at Daryl's creation.

Eyeing him incredulously, Daryl watched Elliot from his position on the base of the stone kiln.

Elliot held the shoelace sting between his thumb and middle finger, jiggling the rotting and blackened ears. "I once heard of a guy from another unit goin' bat-shit crazy and making himself a necklace outta fingers from insurgents." Elliot recalled from his last tour in Afghanistan, dropping the string and wiping his hands absently on the front of his shirt. "Got sent home on a medical discharge."

Daryl rinsed his bloodied hands off with a bit of water and rubbed them near enough to clean with his rag. He figured if he ignored Elliot long enough he would go away.

"Prompted me to do a little research on the subject myself." Elliot said, leaning back against the tree the line was strung from. Daryl finally looked up at Elliot, an edge of disdain in his squint, yet interested to see if he had any idea. "Human trophy collecting, right? It's about dominance and showing your success over your enemy." Elliot looked again at the ears before shooting Daryl a knowing smirk. "Interesting hobby."

Daryl stood up, dropping his skinning knife and the blood-stained rag in the bucket with the guts. He looked at the younger guy, sizing him up. Daryl could see something of himself in the kid, and a little something of Merle. But Elliot was a better version, in a way. Unsullied by past abuse and rough life, but hardened, wizened, and self-loathing just the same.

Elliot sighed, realising he wasn't getting anywhere with this conversation and resigning to let it be. "Yeah, okay man." Elliot scratched at his head and turned to walk away. He stopped after a couple of steps and faced Daryl again. "This all…" he waved a finger around Daryl's camp. "This all coz 'a her?"

Daryl turned away from Elliot and picked up his bucket. "Get the fuck outta here." He grumbled quietly, walking off to bury the offal.


	18. Chapter 18

Rose had taken graveyard watch a couple of nights now. Her body clock was syncing up with the moon. Sleeping all day, watching all night. Studded with meals and chores between. Avoiding conversations and confrontations.

When Dale had caught her and finally asked her again what she thought about driving Randall away and dumping him out somewhere to fend for himself, her reply was as short as her patience for the question. "Whatever Rick says." She hissed quietly, almost like a feral night animal, as she handed over the rifle and made for the ladder.

If she felt bad, she didn't show it. If she pitied the kid or Dale's fruitless quest for a moral standing on human decency, she held it in. Blanking herself of emotion. Rose only faltered once.

Her fourth night on watch.

The camp had been tense. Everyone feeling like Randall's presence was akin to a parasite itching beneath their skin. The torturous prickle of an irritation, burring into the thin film of the camp's uneasy balance. Already fraying nerves were burning lower as Shane stalked around like a caged bear, snapping at Rick or Dale, or even Carl.

Rose was thankful when the people finally dispersed and went to their tents early. She emerged from the van and ate her cold dinner alone at the picnic table, Carol having left some food for her, covered and waiting. Scoffing quietly to herself, Rose ate her meal feeling like a raccoon sneaking into camp and stealing food by moonlight.

Glenn had discreetly watched her eat and take her place at the bottom of the ladder from the RV roof. She climbed much easier and quieter now. Rest and Hershel-prescribed physiotherapy had helped her knee, but it would still be a liability if she ever had to run.

He gave her a silent bleak smile and handed her the rifle. Rose caught him up and gave him a small hug. It may have confused Glenn, but he reciprocated all the same. He didn't say anything, just gave her an unsure nod before he quietly descended the ladder, a slight perplexed twist on his face.

If the hug had surprised Glenn, it was nothing compared to how Rose felt about it. She had done it for only one reason really. To assure herself she was still a human being, not an animal of the midnight zone.

Rose rest the rifle down across the arms of the chair. She stretched out her body, preparing it for the long night ahead of not much movement. Straightening her hoodie and her belt, Rose quickly swept her eyes around the farm.

Only one thing peeked her interest. The small fire that usually glows softly most of the night over at Camp Dixon, was not burning tonight.

Rose ran her fingers through her hair and bunched up the wavy strands. She twisted the blonde rope into a loose knot and fixed it with her new hair tie, a small gift from Maggie for looking in on Beth all the time.

Picking up the rifle, Rose quietly got down on her stomach at the back of the RV. She rest the weapon on the railing around the edge of the roof and put her eye to the scope. She had familiarised herself with this handy attachment over the last couple of nights. Looking down the lens at Daryl's camp, she tried to make out any activity. Or at least find any sign he was there at all.

Rose strained her vision, moving her aim slowly over his tent and lone camp chair. She had a slight mixed bag of feelings about what she was doing. Curiosity, a sense of voyeurism, concern, a small desire for her own private oasis, and something else she couldn't quite pinpoint. Or didn't want to.

"What did Daryl do to deserve this?" Rick's humoured hushed drawl making Rose jump out of her skin. It was lucky she didn't have her finger near the trigger or she would have had a fun time explaining to Daryl why there was a bullet hole in his dome tent.

"Jesus Rick." Rose peered over the roof edge down to see her guest.

"Can I come up?" Rick asked, his hand at his mouth trying to physically wipe the smile off his face.

Rose smirked a little, seeing the humour in Rick's first comment and sat up, moving back from the edge and out of sight.

Rick took that as consent. When he breached the edge he could see Rose, taking a seat on the RV roof, beside the chair she had shunned in favour of an equal seating position with Rick. He climbed over the top and stepped quietly on the metal roof to sit down beside her. He sat back, tucking one foot in and keeping the other knee up low in front of himself, resting his wrist on top like it was a car window.

He considered Rose for a minute. She sat austere but relaxed at the same time. Naturally good posture he supposed. Rick again noticed she was wearing the grey CDC hoodie and paused slightly at the sight of it. She seemed to be watching him, but not looking at him. Small twitches of nervousness or agitation were keeping her muscles tight in her face. Rick didn't want to make her uncomfortable. He considered leaving again but he hadn't really talked to her in days. Maybe a week.

He looked at her directly. Rose kept her head straight but her eyes moved to look at him. Not at him, but in his direction, letting him know she was listening to whatever he was about to say. Rick's mouth twitched slightly in anticipation of the question he was about to ask. The question that had become the new way to greet someone. "Are you…"

"Okay?" Rose supplied, cutting him off having foreseen his question. "I'm fine." She gave the customary response.

Rick nodded his head slowly, looking away to the surrounding farm.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly, finally turning her head to look at him properly.

He had been about to answer 'I'm fine' until he caught sight of Rose's scrutinising glare. "Not really." Rick felt the tension ease out of Rose's shoulders as she weakened at his reply. "How do you know if you're doing the right thing?" His voice dropped to a soft whisper, speaking as though he were narrating the story of his life.

"Personally, I just blindly follow the person I trust most in this world." Rose drew her hand back from her lap and curled it into the crook in Rick's elbow, telling him her quiet words were about him. "I trust the man with the wavering resolution, who wears his humanity like a sheriff's badge." Rick looked at her hand, curled and cool against his skin. "It's right for you to doubt yourself. It means you are making the hard choices and choosing the right path, not the easy one."

Rick sat quietly, looking back out to the farm. Holding up the guise of keeping watch, while secretly marvelling at how comfortable she was with familiarity, and how comfortable he was _with_ her familiarity. Rose had an honesty and a openness that made Rick seek her out and spill all his secrets, needing her opinion and even her approval. Or maybe he just enjoyed having someone in his life who wasn't judging him. Someone who just had confidence in him, bolstering him as leader.

"And Randall…?" He finally asked, his voice little more than a cracked husk.

"Your instinct was to save him." Rose stated plainly. "He shot at you from that rooftop. You gave him a second chance at life. Hershel patched him up. You didn't owe him anything, and yet, you have already given him so much." It was kind of obvious now that she said it out loud. "He'll find other people, and he'll have the opportunity at a clean slate. That's something not many people can ever hope for." A small weight seemed to lift off Rose's soul. She felt a little bit freer at getting her thoughts off her chest. Talking to Rick was like comfort eating, it satisfied her and made her feel happier, if only for a little while.

Rick looked back to Rose again, though his head hung low. "Yeah well, we're taking him away tomorrow regardless. Though, Shane seems pretty certain Randall will find his way back to his old group and bring them back to us for revenge."

"Revenge?" Rose scoffed. "Who's got time for revenge any more? Besides, he looks like just a scared stupid kid who doesn't even know where he is. I would guess that he might not even want to go back to those other guys. They did leave him for dead. And if he did manage to find them, he wouldn't know how to get back here anyway." She justified. "Shane just needs a hobby, or something else to fill his time. Maybe then he won't spend so much time brooding and snapping at your boots."

Rick ran his fingers idly through his growing out hair. It was probably the longest length he has ever worn it. But he wasn't thinking about his hair. "Shane thinks he is in love with Lori." Rick confessed quietly, ashamed but uncertain why. "They were together… when they thought I was dead."

"I heard." Rose's mouth twitched a little. Rick picked up her gaze, her sympathetic grey eyes trying to convey a consoling message. "Carol has bad housewife habits." Rose mouthed almost silently, pointing to the RV below. "She likes to gossip."

A weak smirk peeled onto Rick's lips. He should have realised that nothing stays secret for very long these days.

"Are you and Lori okay now?" Rose asked, holding his arm a little tighter but looking out to the farm grounds.

"I think so." He mused. His marriage felt like another ball in his juggling act at the moment. "She confessed a few things to me the other day, and I think the honesty helped."

Rose just nodded, keeping her eyes on the horizon.

"She told me…" He began but paused to clear his throat softly. "She told me Shane thinks the baby is his, and that he believes they should be together, no matter what."

"Ouch." Rose whispered quietly. "That kinda explains a lot."

Rick nodded his agreement, putting his fingertips to his lips as if to wipe the taste of his words from his mouth. His hand slid up his course facial hair and rubbed hard at his tired eyes. "He has told me I can't protect my family. That I am going to get them killed." His hand opened up away from his face, a gesture asking 'what am I suppose to do?'.

"Talk to him. Put him in his place. He's testing you with all this carrying on and living by his own rules crap. And trust your instinct Rick." Rose slid her hand down his arm, grasping his hand in hers to keep him strong and grounded. "I do."

"I think you might be the only one." Rick grimaced, looking down at her fingers in his grasp.

Rose shifted a little in her spot, her rear falling asleep from sitting still too long on the hard roof. "Then that will have to be enough for now. The others will come around, given time."

"We don't know how much time we have left here." Rick said dry and quiet. "Shane's stunt with the barn did not win us any favours."

"What's up with Hershel anyway? He still want us gone?" Rose questioned, her eyes briefly flitting to the farmhouse over her shoulder before returning to the watch.

"I think he is embarrassed." Rick nodded softly. "Ashamed that he was so wrong about the walkers. But the run-in with the other men in town seems to have shaken him enough to see the benefit in having others to defend the property with him. I think he has only just realised how dangerous the world is now."

"Good." Rose scoffed. "He needed a taste of life beyond the farm's fences."

Rick nodded again softly in agreement. Rose closed her eyes and just enjoyed the silence and comfort their meaningful conversation had brought on. She really needed it. It was like she had been standing on a crumbling cliff side, waiting to see if she would fall as the earth broke away slowly beneath her, and Rick just grabbed her and pulled her back to solid ground.

Questions answered, or at the very least, put on the backburner. Their status on the farm was temporarily extended. Shane's disgruntled behaviour was accounted for, but would definitely be something worth keeping a scrutinising eye on. And, not least of all, the thorn-in-the-paw Randall was going soon, tomorrow in fact.

With all those issues quelled, it didn't take long for the last problem to surface in Rose's thoughts. She couldn't stop herself. Rose turned her head and looked behind Rick, off to the lone dark campsite in the distance.

Rick felt the tension in Rose's hand. She might not even have noticed she was doing it, but she was gripping his fingers just the slightest bit firmer. He looked up from her grasp and caught her in the act.

Her eyes flicked instantly to Rick's thoughtful gaze, before turning her face away back to the farm. Rick breathed a little softer, choosing his words carefully before speaking up.

"You care about him a lot?" Rick asked quietly, trying to keep the right inference in the tone of his voice.

"Thought I did." Rose whispered, her voice shaking slightly. "Thought he did too."

"I can't speak to say I know Daryl very well." Rick said weakly. "I don't think anybody could say they _know_ Daryl. My father would have said 'his waters run deep'." He paused for a moment recalling his fathers words. "I'm not saying he is all 'puppies and daffodils' on the inside, but there is more to him than the walls he puts up between us and himself."

"Why did he move away from me?" Rose asked bluntly, no longer of the mind to keep her emotions out of her words.

"I think… he's hurting." Rick nodded softly, picking up Rose's watery eyes. "I think he is doing the exact same thing you are doing. While he physically moved away, you have been putting the same distance between yourself and everybody else in a different way."

Rose swallowed, fighting back the lump in her throat. The twitching of her facial muscles released the tears that had been crowning in her eyes. She quickly wiped her cheeks with her fingertips and tried to blink away the water blurring her vision.

Rick pulled his hand from her hold and wrapped it around her back instead, drawing her against his shoulder. Rose wasn't quite crying, but that didn't stop the sting in her eyes or the shake in her soft breathing.

"I keep having these fucking dream." Rose sniffed softly, her words coming out thick from her constricted throat. "Failing exams, missing deadlines… just general dreams about not making the grade and disappointing people."

"You're not disappointing anyone Rose." Rick consoled, pulling her a little tighter against his side. "You need some time… you take it. No one expects anything. We just want you back with us someday."

Rose turned her face up to look at Rick as he looked down to see her. He brought up his hand and smudged away a tear on her face, lingering for just a second, holding her face in his hand. "Your gonna be okay. We're gonna be okay. I promise."

Rose snorted softly at the word 'promise'. She believed Rick. He would do everything in his power and beyond to keep them safe. But it wasn't exactly something you should promise.

"I believe you." She lied.

"We're gonna be fine." He lied.

Rick planted a soft consoling kiss on Rose's forehead, barely a feather touch. She leant into his shoulder and sighed.

"We're gonna be fine."


	19. Chapter 19

_It's too hot to be standing here._

Rose stood in front of the farm house, her fingers laced and resting on top of her sweaty frizz of dark blonde waves, all bunched up in a low messy knot at the back of her neck. She, like everyone else, was trying to waste the day and keep busy so as not to think too much about the absence of Rick and Shane.

_They've only been gone two hours, calm down._

Unwavering heat and sick tension. The combination was volatile and small explosions were going off left, right and centre. Lori snapping at Andrea about not helping with the chores and instead choosing to work on her tan on top of the RV. Maggie venting at Jimmy, out of earshot from Beth, about his neglect of the younger sister while she was weak and laid up in the house after her suicide attempt. Even Elliot, T-Dog and Glenn seemed to be having some kind of disagreement. Probably about video games, or football or something very inconsequential, but shouting none-the-less.

Rose tilted her head back, eyes closed against the bright blue sky and blazing sun. She let out a frustrated groan and dropped her hands by her side.

_I wonder if Rick has confronted Shane yet._

Rose lowered her head, chastising herself for still thinking about the 'Randall Disposal' and opened her eyes to look around the Greene farm, searching for a diversion of her own. Breathing a deep sigh, Rose spotted the horse stable and decided to go brush down Nellie and Co. Anything for a distraction. It was normally Beth's job so that meant it probably was not getting done right now and the horses would appreciate a little attention

Sliding her sweaty palms into her jean's back pockets, Rose walked slowly over towards the horse stable. She glanced up at Daryl's camp. It had become habit now. If she just looked briefly, Rose could get back to whatever she was doing without lingering on her thoughts. Daryl wouldn't be there right now anyway. He had been spending his days hunting or something. Disappearing off into the nearby surrounding woods and coming back with some poor critter for dinner instead of joining the group for meals.

Except there _was _someone over there.

Rose squinted across the long grass paddock between her and the camp, trying to make out who was moving about amongst Daryl's site. Her eyesight was good, but not telescopic. Realising what she needed, Rose jogged over to the RV.

"Hey Dale." Rose called up to the lookout on top of the motor home.

"Yes Rose." Dale replied, walking over to the edge and looking down from above. "How can I help you, my dear?"

"Can you pass me the binoculars for a sec?" She asked, squinting up into the sky at him.

"Sure thing." Dale agreed puzzled, disappearing for a moment and returning to the edge, lowering the magnifying device down to Rose.

Holding the binoculars to her eyes and looking off to the lonely tent, Rose adjusted the lenses until the figure came into focus.

"What the hell are you doing over there?" Rose mumbled quietly to herself. She dropped the binoculars from her gaze and shook her head. "Thanks Dale." Rose said gratefully as she passed them back to the lookout.

Dale watched Rose walk off in the direction of Daryl's camp, waiting until he confirmed that's where she was walking before looking in the binoculars himself at the tent by the kiln. The small boy in the Stetson, who was a little too close to Daryl's motorcycle for Dale's liking, was about to get into some serious trouble from Rose.

…...

"Elliot."

Looking up from the oil dipstick he was wiping down, Elliot turned his head and watched the unrelenting blue eyes of Andrea, loaded with determination, lock on to his own as if preparing for war. She had jogged over to him from the farm house, clearly gearing herself up to talk to Elliot, with quite the head-full of steam.

Elliot rolled his eyes to himself. He was sort of trapped, elbow-deep in grease and oil, and you can't really just walk away from an open engine, all sorts of crap can get in. Pushing the dipstick back into the oil, Elliot just ignored Andrea's approach.

"Elliot, can I talk to you please." She asked, cocking her head as if waiting impatiently for a reply that wasn't coming.

_Oil level looks good._ _If I ignore her, she might get the hint._

"You don't have to reply." She pressed on. "I'm just going to talk. Shane and I…"

"This again?!" Elliot snapped his squinted glare at Andrea, shaking his head. "Give it up, ya dumb bitch. I ain't interested. Why aren't you getting it?!"

Andrea stepped back, mouth dropped as if she had been slapped. "It was just one stupid mistake. Are you really going to punish me for the rest of our short, miserable lives?"

Elliot pulled himself out from under the bonnet of the station wagon and stood up to face the disgruntled woman. Looking into her blue eyes was hard, hurting him in his chest like a bullet between his lungs. Andrea had hurt him. Elliot just wanted to hurt her too.

"You made ya bed, now lie in it." Elliot sneered, running his eyes up and down her with a disgusted peel on his face. "I ain't interested in Shane's sloppy seconds."

Andrea's hand whipped out, striking Elliot across his face with a sting. He hardly flinched, only letting the pain in once Andrea had turned and marched off.

…...

_Oh my god kid. You are gonna get your ass beat when I find you._

Rose leaned up against a nearby tree as she rolled out her knee. She had tripped on a hidden tree root and sent a rocketing stab of pain to her knee while stumbling forward.

Carl had already moved off into the trees by the time Rose had gotten to Daryl's camp. Rose bit at her lip when she saw the saddle bags of Daryl's motorbike, wide open. He was not going to like that the kid had rifled through his stuff.

She could see in the parted long grass which way he had run off. Feeling like 'maybe tracking isn't as complicated as Daryl makes it out to be', Rose followed Carl into the woods.

He was still ahead of her some way through the trees, but they were inside the property fence line, so at a low risk of running into walkers. Still Rose was comforted by the weight of her 9mm in the back of her jeans as she pursued him through the semi-dense woods.

Pushing herself off the rough bark of the Hickory and walking carefully on her sore knee, Rose set off to follow Carl again.

…...

The cloud of dust up the driveway from Shane's Hyundai caught Elliot's attention. He screwed on the cap for the brake fluid and closed the bonnet of the family wagon, walking over to the farm house and wiping his hands on a rag on the way.

Rick pulled up next to Otis's truck and got out, spotting Elliot and giving him a regretful nod.

"What happened to your face?" Rick asked, noticing the red glow of Andrea's handprint on Elliot's cheek.

"Could ask you the same thing." Elliot replied.

Rick had almost forgotten about the bruises, cuts and scrapes from his fight with Shane and the close-call with the dead at Mert County public works station. He had other things on his mind.

Elliot ignored Shane getting out of the passenger side and directed his question at Rick. "How'd it go out there man?"

Shane scoffed and walked around to the hatchback of the Hyundai. Rick shook his head, hanging it low, like he was ashamed. Shane dragged the bound and bagged Randall from the boot.

"That good huh?" Elliot said dryly.

"Yeah." Rick answered quietly, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. "Elliot would you mind taking Randall and locking him back up in the slaughter shed?" Rick asked, sighing quietly. "I better go find Hershel and tell him why he's back."

"Yeah, no problem man." Elliot walked over and relieved Shane of custody of Randall. "Wouldn't mind knowing why myself when ya get the chance."

Shane was smart enough to keep his mouth shut as he handed over Randall, headphone's still blaring indiscernible thrash music. Elliot grabbed the kid by the back of the shirt and shoved him forward, towards the shed. Rick and Shane walked to the farmhouse in silence.

…...

It was heavier than he expected. The black steel of Daryl's Browning BDA weighed heavily in Carl's shaking hands. He did his gun training with Shane using a small revolver. But this one, the one he had in his hands now with a walker in his sights, this one was a _real_ gun.

The walker was trapped. Sunk knee-deep in the dried up river bed mud of a thin creek. Walkers were dangerous, he knew that, but Carl wanted to protect his family and Sophia, just like his dad and Shane.

He needed to prove to them that he was old enough now. He wasn't some kid anymore.

Carl stepped closer to the walker, still beyond it's reach. It swayed back and forth, arms outstretched desperate to grab onto the meal just past it's fingertips.

This was it. Time to prove himself.

Carl flexed his hand on the handgun's grip and relaxed his finger over the trigger, just like Shane had taught him. The sudden loss of footing, slipping on some loose fallen leaves, caused Carl to slide forward towards the clawing dead hands.

Jerked backwards by the neck of his long-sleeved shirt, Carl fell away from the walker that was hissing and spitting excitedly.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Rose yelled at the scared boy she had grabbed onto, hurting her knee again as she dove forward. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"I'm sorry!" Carl cried. "Please don't tell my parents."

Rose dragged him back a good twenty feet from the walker before answering him. "You have got to be kidding me right?! You're lucky I don't rip down your pants and colour your hide you little shit!" She tossed him towards a tree, putting herself between him and the walker in the mud.

"I'm sorry." He pleaded. "I know I shouldn't be out here. I just wanted to help protect everyone."

"You're an idiot." Rose spat at Carl as she snatched Daryl's gun away from his hands. "And you can be damn sure I'm telling your parents." She looked it over and switched the safety back on.

"It couldn't reach me." Carl pointed out. "It's stuck in the mud."

"Yes, I can see that." Rose glared at the boy. "What if it came loose? What if when you slipped forward it got you Carl? You would be bits of flesh and sinew stuck between it's teeth by now."

"I'm not scared of it. I can help keep the farm safe." The boy defended, pleading his case to deaf ears.

"Maybe that's the problem." Rose surmised, nodding her head. "You're not scared."

Drawing her 9mm out of the back of her jeans and replacing it with Daryl's Browning, Rose gripped her handgun by her side and grabbed Carl again by the back of his shirt.

_Sorry Rick._

"What are you doing?" Carl asked panicked as Rose moved behind him and pushed him towards the walker in the mud.

"Putting a little fear in you." Rose answered, pushing the reluctant Carl further forward.

"I'm going to tell my mom." Carl threatened, fighting against Rose's grip.

"Yeah, well, good. She could use a little fear too." Rose slowed as they got within two yards of the snapping monster. "Maybe then she will keep a better eye on you."

Rose grabbed on to Carl's wrist and locked it up behind his back, pulling it firmly until the boy cried out.

"Look at it Carl!" Rose shouted in the boy's ear, ripping the Stetson off his head and tossing it aside.

Carl opened his eyes that were screwed up, fighting against the force behind him. The electric panic of a heart racing out of beat, swept through Carl, scaring him like Rose intended.

Pushing him further forward, within a foot of the outstretched fingers of the walker, Rose kept her free hand on the trigger of her gun over Carl's shoulder, ready to act if this went south. "Look at it Carl. This is your death."

Carl cried out a little, pushing back harder against his twisted arm. Terror flushed the boys face red as he leaned back, buckling his shoulder painfully in Rose's grip.

"This is how every single one of us is going to die. Getting torn apart by one of the things. Your face bitten off, your guts ripped out, or even just …a little scratch." She spoke slowly as she leaned into the kid, his shirt just being tickled by the swiping fingertips of the decaying walker. "Your mom, your dad, Shane, me, Dale, Carol… all of us are going to die at the hands of one of these things one day."

Rose stepped back, pulling Carl out of the walker's reach with her. The boy fell backwards and Rose dragged him further away by his clothing.

Carl had tears and snot running down his face, holding his aching shoulder as he cried on the ground. Rose walked over to the side and picked up Carl's hat. Dusting it off, she dropped it on his head and bent down to look him in the eyes. "Do you get it now?"

"I'm telling my mom!" Carl shouted, his eyes red and wet.

Rose grabbed Carl's face, holding him with a trigger grip by his chin. His eyes shot open wide again with fear. "Good! I want her to know. She needs to know about how you like to come out to the woods and play superhero while she potters around the farm sticking her nose in everyone's business. You tell her Carl. Tell her everything." Rose released Carl's face with a flick of her wrist, turning the boys face towards the path to leave.

She dragged Carl to his feet by the scruff of his shirt, feeling a little more like Elliot than she would prefer. The walker hissed and moaned, leaning far forward on it's legs until it dropped forward, looking up from the mud.

"What about him?" Carl asked quietly, rubbing his eyes as Rose turned to look back at the noise behind them. She released Carl's shirt and stepped towards the walker, stopping just short of a yard from it's fingers, clawing at the dirt of the creek bank.

The same feeling as last time crept into Rose as she raised her 9mm up to aim at the walker. It starts as tiny pinpricks in her palms, making her wary of her grip on the handgun. Travelling up her arms like boiling oil in her veins, hot and thick, making it's way to her chest. Her lungs seem to shrink and cower, defenceless against her heart thrashing around in her chest like a wounded beast. A tight hot band of searing pain, wraps and engulfs the beating walls of her heart, choking her in her throat like she tried to dry swallow a pill.

Bang.


	20. Chapter 20

"MOM!" Carl ran to Lori, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his wet face in her shirt.

The sun was low in the clear blue sky, burning it's last hour before evening. Rose looked around at all the drawn faces of everybody out the front of the farm house. The only people she didn't see were Daryl and Rick.

"Where's Rick?" Rose asked scared, beginning to think the worst.

"What happened to you Carl?" Lori asked turning her sons face up so she could look in his eyes and check him for any injuries.

Carl sobbed again. "Mom, it was her…"

"Somebody answer me! Where's Rick?" Rose snapped, drawing attention away from Carl and Lori.

"He's fine." Elliot answered puzzled. "What happened with you two?" He asked, pointing at Carl.

Rose closed her eyes and breathed again.

"What happened with my son?!" Lori charged, eyes glaring at Rose.

"I'm sure he'll tell you all about it." Rose dismissed, running her fingers back through her hair and looking around cluelessly for an answer as to why everybody was gathered at the house and looking so grim.

"Rose." Dale began, stepping forward towards her. "Rick and Shane had to bring Randall back." Dale held his hat in his hands, lookout rifle still slung over his shoulder. "Can I talk with you for a moment?"

"You really tryin' this on everyone, ain't ya Dale?" Shane scoffed, shaking his head.

"Yeah, of course Dale." Rose said quietly, a soft frown creasing her face as she looked warily from Shane to Dale. She pointed over her shoulder to the RV, Dale nodded and followed her to the camp.

She stopped beside the RV, leaning back against the side wall she lifted up her right leg and flexed it as Hershel had shown her, stretching and working the ligaments. It felt like it was made of timber, creaking and swaying like a willow tree under the strain of the wind. Rose looked up from her knee to Dale. His mouth was pulled into a tight frown, and his eyebrows were raised in a concerned arc.

"My knee is fine Dale." Rose nodded her head softly, closing her eyes to the man's worry. "Tell me everything."

Dale fidgeted slightly with his hat in his hands, keeping his round, troubled eyes on Rose. "Rick and Shane had to bring Randall back because he knows where we are. He went to school with Maggie and being local it is very likely he knows where this farm is."

"Damn it." Rose whispered quietly, stroking her temple, fighting against the throbbing in her head from dehydration.

"Now Rick is convinced the only way forward is to _kill Randall._" Dale emphasised.

Rose looked up to meet Dale's eyes briefly, she wore the same drawn in grim expression everybody else had. "Maybe it is the only option, Dale."

"It can't be. We can't murder an innocent boy for no reason." Dale pleaded, flustered. "What about human rights, or even, human decency. What does all this say about us as people? That we are willing to destroy a life so easily out of fear."

"He shot at Rick, Glenn and Hershel in the town, Dale. I wouldn't exactly call him innocent." Rose scoffed as she stood up and tested a bit of weight on her knee.

"Surely he was just doing what his group had told him to do." Dale argued.

"Hm. If I was you, I wouldn't use the 'just following orders' excuse in front of Elliot." Rose scratched at her head, anything to avoid Dale's pleading gaze. She sighed. "Well what do you think we should do with him then?"

"I believe we should give him a chance to prove himself." Dale protested. "Put him to work so he can earn his keep. Give him the opportunity to show he is not the criminal everyone assumes he is."

"What if he is the criminal we all assume he is?" Rose intentionally including herself amongst the assumers.

Dale sighed, again feeling like he was fighting against the tide. A second argument occurred to the older man. "We can't kill him, Rose. I'm not just arguing this for his sake. Who do you think is going to be the executioner?" Dale emphasised. "Rick is going to have to wear that boy's blood on his hands."

Dale's words had the intended effect on Rose. She looked up from where she had been kicking around some loose gravel and fixed her eyes on Dale. He was right.

"I know you care about him Rose." Dale stated quietly, feeling as though he was walking out onto a frozen lake in early spring. "I've seen how close you two are becoming …as friends." Dale finished as an after thought. "You don't want this for him."

"Yeah okay, you made your point Dale." Rose shut him down, rubbing hard at her eyes until she saw spots. "It doesn't sound like you have many people on your side." She thought back to Shane's comment.

"We are all meeting soon to discuss this, but everybody is just scared." Dale shook his head. "They can't look past their fear to see any other solution, so would prefer to wipe their hands of it and leave it all up to Rick." He turned and looked over his shoulder at the group, wringing his hat in his hands. "Please Rose." He begged, looking back to the woman beside the RV. "You once asked me not to hate you if you ever sent me to war for you. Well, now I'm asking you to go to war for me. For that boy in there. And for Rick's humanity."

Rose rubbed at the bridge of her nose, shaking her head softly at her own words coming back to bite her. "Okay Dale." She looked him in the eyes and sighed. "When's this meeting?"

"At sunset." He answered, thankful he now had at least one ally.

"And _do _you have anyone else with you?" She asked, looking to the group in the distance.

"I think Glenn, but…" He shook his head dismally.

"Okay, look." She felt Daryl's gun in the back of her jeans and remembered what she was planning on doing. "I have something I gotta do first. Keep working on it with everybody else and I'll back you up at the meeting. I promise." She added.

"Thank you Rose." Dale reached forward and picked up her hand to give it a small shake.

"Okay, okay." She smiled briefly at Dale before dropping off his hand. "Go. Keep fighting."

Dale stepped back and gave Rose a grateful smile, before turning to walk to the farm house.

Rose rest her head back against the RV, tilting so far back she looked straight up to the blue-orange glow of sunset's approach.

_Why is everything so fucking hard, all the time?!_

Her neck stiffened and she rolled her head forward, popping her vertebrae with a soft crunch. She rubbed at the top of her spine and pushed herself off the RV wall. Sighing and walking with a small limp again, Rose headed off to Daryl's camp.

…...

Daryl flexed his fist, looking at the peeled up bits of skin on his knuckles. His thought's snapped away from the kid in the slaughterhouse shed when he heard someone approach behind him, through the long grass. "I already told you old-timer, I don't care what happens either way. Group's broken. Ain't my problem."

"Uhh…" Rose said quietly, her voice making Daryl spin around and stand up quickly from his seat on the stone step. "Sorry to disappoint." She shrugged softly.

Daryl stepped back slightly, looking Rose questioningly in the eyes. "Whatta you doin' here?"

"I came to return this." Rose pulled Daryl's gun from the back of her jeans, her own 9mm still tucked down the front under her t-shirt. She stepped towards him and handed it over. "Carl swiped it earlier."

"Goddamn brat." Daryl grumbled, taking the gun back. "They aught to keep him on a leash."

Rose slid her hands into her back pockets and looked at the ground, blushing slightly. "Yeah, well, I don't think he is going to wander too far away for a while." She said dryly, feeling a bit guilty. Rose looked up at Daryl, who was checking the clip of the gun, noticing his knuckles. "What happened to your hands?" She asked with a nod.

Daryl glimpsed again at the back of his hand, then looked up at Rose before turning to his bike and putting the Browning back in his satchel. "Had a little chat with Randall, Rick's request."

"Chat huh?" Rose pulled her lips into a tight frown. "He tell you anything?"

"Yeah." Daryl said turning back to look at Rose, anger brewing beneath the surface. "Told me enough to know we can't just let him go. He'll bring all his boys back here in a second and make us regret it." Daryl spat, defensively.

"Okay." Rose nodded slowly and sighed, acknowledging Daryl's temper. "Do you think we should kill him?"

"Like I told Dale, ain't my concern." Daryl crouched down beside his empty camp fire, poking around in the cold ashes with a stick.

Rose stepped forward slowly, stopping beside Daryl and squatting down next to him, a little painful with her knee. "Are you going to ask me what I think?" She asked quietly.

Daryl tilted his head towards her and looked at her scrutinisingly, his guts squirming a little with her proximity.

Rose didn't speak, just met Daryl's eyes with a soft stare of her own. Her mouth pulled into a small worried line, shoulders hunched forward, and fingers picking at the side of her nail in front of her. Daryl's eyes flicked to her hair that was spilling forward over her shoulder, again littered with a small twig or two from her traipse around the woods.

Rose sighed softly, faulting at Daryl's quiet study of her disposition.

"That kid ain't my problem." Daryl said quietly, turning back to look at the gray pile of ash.

"Okay." Rose whispered. She rubbed at her knee and stood up, awkwardly trying to avoid putting too much weight on the stiff joint. Standing beside Daryl she brushed herself off softly and looked back to the farmhouse. The amber colour of sunset was settling in the sky, colouring the farm with a soft dusk hue. "Can you walk me back over to the meeting? My knee is acting up and I don't want to fall." She stated the lame excuse knowing Daryl would probably see through it.

He dropped the stick he held in his hand into the fire pit and stood up, dusting the ash off his palms. Daryl picked up his crossbow and slung it over his shoulder, walking beside Rose to the farmhouse. He was enough out of her reach so that she wouldn't touch him but he would be able to catch her if she did go down. Even though it was unlikely she would.

"I'm not going to let Rick do it." Rose said quietly, looking at the grass before her as they walked.

Daryl didn't reply, just followed her silently.

…...

Lori spotted Rose as she and Daryl approached the house. Finger drawn up in front of her like it was a sword she would stab Rose with if she could, Lori moved quickly towards the woman who had hurt and threatened her son.

"How dare you touch Carl!" She hissed like an angry cat, drawing the eyes of everybody towards the conflict.

Daryl was torn between stopping Lori's approach and stepping out of the way of the impending clash. He saw Rose waver slightly on her leg out the corner of his eye and grabbed her upper arm to steady her.

Rose didn't have any response. She knew it was going to happen and still hadn't tried to prepare any defence. Rose had behaved rashly, frightening Carl as she did, but didn't regret her actions. That didn't stop her feeling guilty for what she had done to Rick's son. Guilt without regret. It sat in her stomach like a cold puddle. Stone-faced, she just stood her ground, ready to take whatever Lori dished out.

Rick stepped forward and caught his wife by her arms, holding her back from her assault.

Rose just looked apologetically at Rick. Lori trying to set fire to Rose with her glare as she struggled against her husband's grip. She turned around and shot a fierce stare at Rick, asking him to stand up for her and punish Rose for her actions.

"Not now Lori." Rick hushed, looking at Rose with sad, regretful eyes. "We have other business."

Lori was fuming as she turned and scooped Carl to her side. The Grimes family walked into the house with the group slowly following in.

Daryl looked at Rose's pallid expression. "Now I wanna know…" He said gruffly. "What did ya do to 'Spanky'?"

Rose looked at Daryl, silently enjoying the hand on her arm, with a buckled twist in her down-turned mouth. "Tell you later on."

Daryl nodded and walked with Rose to the farmhouse steps, helping her up with the hand that had dropped to her elbow, and stoically pleased with the promise of more talk with her later.

…...

"He's not one of us, Dale." Glenn said flatly, guilt for siding against the man who had believed he had his support making his expression falter slightly.

"Couldn't we just continue to keep him prisoner?" Maggie asked, hoping to offer a solution.

"Just another mouth to feed." Daryl answered dryly, shrugging softly.

"Could be a lean winter." Hershel added.

"So we put him to work." Dale offered, palms facing out and pleading for the others to see reason. "Give him the chance to earn his keep."

"I wouldn't feel safe with him just walking around." Lori stated, drawing her hands around herself and shaking her head.

"Well, we can't exactly put chains on his ankles, sentence him to hard labour." Andrea retorted.

"Look, lets say we let him join us, right?" Shane asked rhetorically. "Maybe he's helpful, maybe he's nice." He said, voice full of disdain. "We let our guard down, maybe he runs off and brings back his 30 men."

"So the answer is to kill him for a crime he may never even attempt." Dale asked shrugging, his pitch bordering on desperate. "If we do this, we're saying there is no hope. Rule of law is dead, there is no civilisation." He looked at Rose, asking for her help with a sad look.

"Oh my god." Shane scoffed quietly, hanging his shaking head.

"How would you do it?" Patricia asked quietly. "Would you hang him?"

"I think shooting him is more humane." Rick answered, brow furrowed against his own words.

"What about the body," T-Dog asked. "Do we bury…"

"Hold on." Dale cut him off, distraught. "You're talking about it like it's already decided."

Elliot watched Rose warily as the argument swung back the other way again. She looked tired and small on the piano bench beside Glenn.

"Been talkin' 'bout it all day." Daryl scorned quietly. "Goin' round in circles, you jus' wanna go around in circles again?"

"This is a man's life we're talking about!" Dale exclaimed. "And it is worth more than a five minute conversation. How are we any better than those people we're so afraid of?"

The room fell silent. Nobody wanted to take that step towards their loss of civilisation but there wasn't any other viable solution.

"I don't understand why we are in such a hurry to make this decision." Dale said flatly. He turned slowly and faced Daryl, walking to the man, shaking his head. "You were right, this group is broken." He shot a small pitiful look at Rose, asking her to fight, before turning and walking out the front door and disappearing into the night.

Rick stood stone still in the middle of the circle in the Greene's living room. He spoke slowly, almost hoping someone had a solution that had not yet been raised. "Anyone who wants the floor before we make a final decision, here's the chance."

Rose's heart sat high in her throat. She looked up, catching Daryl's stare on the way, and breathed shallow tight breaths as she got to her feet. Stepping forward, Rose walked and stood in front of Rick.

"Is this really your choice?" She asked him, looking him straight in the eyes and speaking like he was the only one who was in the room with her. "No one is making you do this, right? This is what you _believe_ is the right thing to do?"

Rick didn't answer, he just looked painfully into Rose's grey eyes.

She nodded regretfully. "You are free to choose, but you are not free from the consequences of your choices. I'm not going to let you do it. I'm not going to let you wear this on your soul."

Shane scoffed quietly, breaking Rose from her discourse.

Rick placed his hands on Rose's shoulders, the gesture making Lori tense up in the corner of the room. He held Rose's gaze, pleading her with his eyes for her to let it go. "This is the only choice. It is the right thing to do to keep everybody safe."

Rose bit at the inside of her mouth. Rick could feel her trembling under his hands as she drew herself up taller, tears welling in her eyes. "Okay." She said softly. "It's the right thing to do."

Her submission didn't sit right with Rick. Something was wrong.

Rose put her hand to the 9mm at the front of her jeans. She kept her eyes on Rick's as she drew the handgun from her waistband, and let the weight of it drop her hand by her side.

"If it is the right thing to do, and we can kill that kid with a clear conscious," She said, voice wavering. "…then I'll do it."

_***Big thank you again to my Fantastic Four, NanamiYatsumaki, Sensistar, sweetkiwi604, and SilverAdvenger12, for all your lovely reviews. You guys really keep me going.**_

_**x.**_


	21. Chapter 21

He blinked the sting from his bloodshot eyes, gripping the rail of the house porch, and staring unseeingly out into the night.

_This can't be it._

Dale hadn't had much time for belief in a god. Losing the love of your life to terminal cancer, watching her wilt and die from the inside-out each day as your prayers go unanswered, it's not hard to think you are alone in your pain.

Yet here he was, eyes to the sky, speaking words to the heavens, asking for an answer to an impossible situation.

_This can't be the 'grand plan'. Making us hate and hurt each other… for what? A test?_

"Why am I bothering to ask you?" he mumbled quietly to… who knows?

Dale looked over at the slaughterhouse shed. It's gabled roof and windowless walls looked very plain. It gave no indication of it's purpose. No sign of the years of animal butchery and carving. And no marker or notice of it's new purpose, housing a man slated for death row.

_Even death row inmates get the time to appeal their case._

The idea appeared in Dale's thoughts like a small figure stepping out of the shadows. It pushed on his mind and swelled as he fed it by entertaining the notion.

_Time. I just need a little time._

He hitched the rifle back up on his shoulder and moved quickly to the RV to collect his .38 special. The weight of his decision pressing in the back of his throat, making his heart race and his doubt battle with his actions. He switched the weapons, leaving the rifle on the small table inside the mobile home and tucking the revolver into the front of his trousers, covering it with his shirt, and walking quickly over to the shed.

"Son?" Dale asked quietly as he turned the combination, unlocking it and releasing the latch.

He opened the door and saw the pathetic kid lying on the ground; gagged, blindfolded and bound with rope to the wall behind him.

"Hold on son." Dale said getting down on the ground beside the boy as fast as his old man knees would allow. Peeling the blindfold from the kid's eyes, bruised and swollen from Daryl's 'chat', Randall looked up at Dale with fear, like a mangy dog that had been kicked and beaten. "It's okay." Dale soothed, trying to lift him up into a sitting position.

Randall cringed, hurting from the beating and his healing leg wound. Dale pitied the lowly boy, bolstering his belief that he was doing the right thing. He removed the gag from Randall's mouth and met his wretched eyes.

"They're gonna kill me, right?" Randall whimpered.

"Not if I can help it." Dale consoled, his pitying eyes asking the boy to trust him.

"Are you gonna let me go?" The soft whine in the boys voice tightened something in Dale chest.

"No. I can't do that." Dale shook his head. "I'm just buying us some time, so I can make everyone see reason."

"Oh man." Randall sobbed, looking away towards the open door behind Dale.

"It's gonna be okay, son." Dale soothed, pulling his knife from his pocket and open the hinged blade. He bent down and cut the ropes from the wall, leaving Randall's hands bound together.

"Hey, what about…?" Randall asked, gesturing to the cord binding and cutting into his wrists.

"Don't mistake my kindness with foolishness." Dale chastised quietly, getting to his feet and helping Randall to his own.

"Okay. Okay." Randall nodded short hasty nods, looking at Dale's back as the older man peered out the door. "I…I didn't mean for any of this. I'm just… some guy. I ain't dangerous or anythin'." He pleaded his case.

"It's okay, just be quiet now." Dale decided the coast was still clear. The meeting was still going. "We're going to make a run for it. Over to the stables. Are you okay to run?" Randall stepped away from Dale, retreating further into the shed behind him. "What are you doing, son?" Dale asked, puzzled.

"I'm sorry." Randall said, straining his words as he charged at Dale with his shoulder, knocking him to the ground in front of the shed door.

Dale fell to the dirt, Randall winding him and sending him crashing forward. His knife skittered out of his hand, the desperate kid scrambling in the dust to right himself and get the small blade.

Randall rolled onto his back, manipulating his bound wrists under himself and out from behind his back, under his legs.

Dale struggled to take in a lungful of air, let alone, call out for help. He lunged forward, grabbing onto the torn pant leg of Randall's jeans.

Randall kicked himself free from Dale's grip, gasping and wincing against the pain in his ribs and thigh. He crawled forward on his elbows, towards the knife. Diving for it, Randall grabbed onto the handle of the blade and spun around.

Dale shook his head, eyes wide and palms open before him, mouthing the word 'No' but having nothing come out from his empty lungs.

Randall pushed the knife into Dale's neck with a hushed grunt. Dale weakly grabbing onto the front of Randall's shirt as the life flickered and faded from his scared eyes. His body slackened and his arms dropped, Randall breathing short hard puffs behind his scrunched up eyes and twisted lips.

He looked behind him once the old man had stopped moving, fighting the urge to throw up what little food he had in his stomach. No one from the house had seen him yet. Now was his chance to get out of here, and get away from the lifeless body of the first person he had ever killed and the only person who had foolishly trusted him.

_***angst***_

_***24 favourites, 48 follows, 57 reviews... so much love. Thanks to all of you. sweetkiwi, nanami, silverad12, and hideher especially. You guys rock.  
**_


	22. Chapter 22

"You ain't serious!?" Elliot yelled as he stepped to Rose's side, grabbing her arm and spinning her towards him. Her gun dropping to the ground beside them with a heavy clatter. "I didn't work that hard, keeping your hands clean of all this, just so you can throw it all away now!"

Daryl sneered, like he was chewing on glass, visibly displeased by Rose's 'offer'.

"You aren't doing anything." Rick dismissed quietly as Rose pulled her arm from Elliot's bruising grip and looked back up to him. "This is my mess, I'm gonna clean it up."

"It's not a mess, Rick. It's a _life_." Rose said, shaking her head and grabbing onto the front of Rick's shirt softly. "A worthless piece of shit life, but it's not even about him_. _It's about _you._" Her voice dropped to a cracked whisper as her voice failed her.

"Can you get your hands off of my husband." Lori stepped forward, no longer able to stand quietly aside.

Rose glanced at her briefly, before returning her grey stare to Rick.

Lori gave an offended scoff and folded her arms over her chest, glancing between Rick, Rose and Shane, asking for some support. Shane just shook his head in disbelief that this was all happening, wondering 'why in the hell' everyone couldn't see that this kid was a threat that needed to go.

"There is no other option." Rick shook his head softly and picked up her hand that was holding his shirt, pleading with Rose to understand. To know that he didn't want to do it and begging her not to think less of him for having to do it.

"Yes there is." She answered. "You had it right the first time. We take him away and leave him somewhere, _far_ away. Right plan, poor execution. Please Rick."

"Rick, you are not leaving again!" Lori snapped.

"THEN I'LL GO!" Rose rounded on Rick's wife. "I can't belief you are so willing to let Rick do something so unthinkable, because you are scared of a little road trip!"

"THAT'S IT!" Elliot yelled, grabbing again onto Rose by both her wrists, looking over to Daryl behind Rick for some help. "YOU'VE GONE NUTS. You ain't goin' anywhere!"

"No." Rick said, holding onto Rose's hand, halting Elliot from dragging her away. He met her eyes, deflating slightly. "She's right." He submitted with a sigh.

"What?!" Shane hissed, squinting in disbelief and turning his head to the side, tongue at his teeth like a snake tasting the air.

"She's right, Shane." Rick answered, his eyes still on Rose's dilated grey pupils. "We'll take him further out. _I'll _take him further out." He corrected.

"You can't be serious man!?" Shane spat. "You gonna let that old man and a pair of pretty eyes get under your skin? You foolish enough to forget what the world is like now? You're just putting all of us in danger. Lori, Carl… They mean nothin' to you anymore?"

Rick stepped toward Shane, handing Rose over to Elliot who was still huffing and glaring at her. "They mean everything to me! That's why Rose and Dale are right." He said, sure of his words for the first time tonight. "What kind of example am I setting for Carl? That it's okay to kill another human being out of fear of the unknown." Rick turned to Lori, looking her straight in the eyes. "You were worried about what this world would do to him. It starts with _us_, Lori." He said, pointing at his heart. Seeing his wife's face drop in shock at hearing her fears voiced for all to know, Rick rounded back on Shane. "You don't agree… _this _is what's happening. Swallow it and move on."

"Oh my god." Andrea puffed, relieved, running her fingers over her hair. "I'm gonna go tell Dale." She quickly made her way to the front door, glancing briefly at Elliot who was struggling to hold on to Rose.

"Get off me." Rose shoved Elliot back and turned, out of breath, to Rick and Shane. The men were in a silent stare off, and the stakes were a lot higher than anyone else in the room could know. Rose was thanking the universe that her argument had worked. She wasn't going to shoot anyone. As if she could? It was a bluff that everyone could see straight through (except Elliot, apparently), but it got her point across.

Lori stood with her mouth pulled in tight, staring daggers at Rose between glances at her husband and Shane. Everybody was silent and nervous as to what was teetering between the men that were suppose to be their leaders. The tense stand-off lasted a little too long, making the room seem smaller and claustrophobic.

Daring a quick glimpse at Daryl, Rose was met with a heated glare and a warning shake of the head.

_Let it be._

She had enough sense to know when to talk and when to hold her tongue, but Daryl's expression cinched her choice. She needed to let this go. This is a Rick and Shane thing. Rose replied with a subtle nod and backed down. A brief expression of surprise flittered across Daryl's face before he returned to watching the showdown.

Rose, and everyone in the room, jumped from fright and turned to see Andrea, suddenly reappeared in the door way, shaky and out of breath. She was clammy and pale as a ghost except for the crimson red tips of her fingers and palms.

Elliot took a hesitant step forward to Andrea, but stopped himself.

"Dale…" Andrea said quietly, tear streaked, shaking her head and breathing sharp, desperate gulps of oxygen.

Rick stepped forward to her, drawing her scared blue eyes up to his face, unable to speak. "Where is he Andrea?" He asked.

It took her just a moment for her brain to click in to gear. Andrea shook her head slightly and turned to run from the house, Rick and everyone else following her in fear of the worst.

Stepping out into the cool air of the evening, a chill swept through Rose. Her stomach was somewhere around the back of her throat and her heart was elsewhere in her boots.

They ran to where Andrea pointed, in front of the slaughterhouse shed. Rick dropping hastily to the dirt beside Dale's body, searching for a pulse on the blood-sticky neck. Hershel, Glenn and Daryl stopping beside him, waiting for some sign that Dale was okay. That the unbelievable had not just happened.

Rick looked up and shook his head, his blood-painted hands limp by his side. Glenn running his hands back through his hair and gripping on to the back of his head as if trying to fight away a nightmare.

"oh… Dale, no." Rose felt her chest tighten and sink in, as if someone were kneeling on her, crushing the air from her lungs.

Shane stepped forward to the slaughterhouse, wrenching open the door to look for Randall. He came back out, jaw set and eyes burning, until he spotted Rose. He stomped towards the frozen woman, finger jutted out accusingly. "This what you wanted, huh?! You and Dale come up with this little plan? You distract us while he lets that little fuck go?" He closed in on her, looming and frightening. Rose took a scrambled step backwards. "Well your plan backfired. And now, Dale is dead!" Shane spat. "…because of you!"

Rose just shook her head in small, dizzying shakes. She backed up further away from Shane's advance, her hands clutching at her shirt like it was responsible for her constricted breathing as she tripped and fell to her ass in the dirt.

"HEY!" Elliot yelled, stepping away from his spot behind Andrea and coming to Rose's defence.

Half a heartbeat later and a hand had gripped around Shane's arm, followed by a sickening crunch sound of a fist meeting a jaw. Rose's hand jumped to cover her shocked gapping mouth as she looked at Daryl, standing over Shane on the ground.

Shane scooted back and got quickly to his feet, ready to spear tackle Daryl.

"NO!" Rick roared, stepping between Shane and Daryl, who was shoulders back and a dirty sneer on his face, ready for a fight. "This isn't getting us anywhere!" He kept his hands up amid the men, looking back and forth between their war faces. "We need to organise NOW, and go after Randall!"

Rose stayed on the ground, pulling her knees underneath her and crying silently into her hands covering her mouth. She didn't hear much of what was being said around her, only Shane's words echoing around inside her mind.

…_because of you._

"Elliot." Rick looked towards the tall man, who was glaring fire at Shane. "You and Daryl take your weapons and hunt him down. Shane and I will take a car and go out the driveway, towards the highway." Rick pointed towards the farms driveway. "I can only think of it as the most likely direction he would take, wanting to avoid the woods."

Carol found her choked up voice. "Wait! Just let him go. That was the plan wasn't it?" She looked fearfully at Daryl, scared of him leaving. "Just let him go."

"The plan was to take him far away." Rick barked back. "Not cut him loose on our front step, with a knife."

"And a gun." Glenn added quietly. Seeing everyone turn to look at him, he elaborated. "I don't see Dale's rifle. He never goes anywhere without that thing."

"That's just fuckin' brilliant." Shane spat, stalking around back and forth.

"Glenn, Hershel, T… Get everybody back in the house." He stepped away from Daryl with a warning glance, telling him to back off. "Shane, go get the truck ready." Rick pointed at the parked cars, glaring at Shane, who was watching Daryl spit to the side and stalk away to pick up his discarded crossbow. With a short nod to Elliot, Rick bent down to pick up Rose and get her to her feet. "Get everybody back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put." He put a hand to her shoulder to steady her, as he spoke to everybody again. "Remember, Randall isn't the only threat out there, keep an eye on each other."

"But what about…" Rose stuttered.

Lori emerged from the farm house carrying a bed sheet and a teary, solemn look on her face. Rose gave her a grateful and understanding nod, stepping forward to help her cover Dale with the white linen.

"Okay." Rick said nodding to the women. "Now go inside." He turned to look at Elliot and Daryl, who were loading their assorted weapons. "You two got it?"

"Yeah, we got it Rick." Elliot nodded, glancing briefly at Shane who had started up the old truck with a loud rev. "You got it?"

Rick gave a soft nod, looking back at Dale and the red circle leaching through the white sheet. "I can handle Shane." He submitted, turning to follow his 'brother'.

Elliot watched pityingly as Rick jogged over to the waiting vehicle. He glanced briefly at the house, seeing Rose turn and walk inside last, head hanging low. The soft footfalls of Daryl behind him, bringing him back to the beginning of the manhunt. Elliot observed Daryl, as the older of the two walked around Dale, studying the scuffs and marks in the dirt.

Seeing Elliot's scrutiny, Daryl looked up from his tracking with a harsh glare. "If your gonna do a thing, might as well do it right." He challenged.

"I'm with you man." Elliot said defencelessly, raising his palms in a 'don't shoot' kind of way.

Daryl squinted at Elliot fleetingly, before returning to his footprints and marks in the earth. "It's this way." He pointed with a jut of his chin towards the stables.

Elliot gave him a nod, brought his rifle up to his shoulder and gestured for Daryl to lead the way.

…...

"Are you okay?" Maggie asked, pulling her mouth slightly to the side with large worried eyes.

Rose was sitting on the bottom step of the staircase. She was holding her throat with one hand, gripping onto the railing beside her with the other. Her eyes fluttered as her consciousness returned to the present, focusing on Maggie standing before her.

She didn't have any words. Just a choked up feeling in the back of her mouth and a pool of self-hatred swirling in her guts. She shook her head, closing her eyes and turning her face away from Maggie.

With a sigh, Maggie turned away and walked slowly over to stand next to Glenn, looking out the front window, towards the slaughterhouse beyond the darkness.

Lori and Carol were consoling their children, who were quietly crying in the living room over the death of a loved friend. Hershel and T-Dog were mutedly discussing events in the dining room as Patricia busied herself in the kitchen. Beth had only made a brief appearance, Maggie explaining as best she could what happened before her and Jimmy escorted Beth back to her room.

Andrea was standing at the door, looking blankly at the glass and wrought iron inlay. Her thoughts were a million miles away as Dale's blood dried on her hands or dripped to the carpet rug of the entryway. Rose blinked away the stinging blur from her eyes and wiped her face with her short sleeve. Holding the rail, she pulled herself to her feet and walked over to Andrea's side. Rose didn't say anything, she just waited until Andrea acknowledged her presence with a hard, dry swallow and a slow blink. Taking hold of Andrea's arm, Rose guided her towards the downstairs bathroom.

Closing the door behind them, Rose turned to see Andrea looking at her in the mirror's reflection. Her eyes were red and her face was pale and stony. Not like she had no emotions, more like she had too many. "Did you know…?" Andrea's cracked voice whispered.

Rose shook her head, struggling to get her mouth to work. "I…I had no idea. He didn't tell me… anything." She shivered slightly, feeling overwhelmed. Breathing a few steadying breaths, Rose stepped forward to the sink and turned on the taps, helping Andrea rinse the blood off her hands.

They silently watched the dark swirl of water disappear down the drain, scrubbing softly until it ran clear. Rose scooped Andrea's fingers up in an embroidered handtowel and stroked her hands dry.

"He just wanted to protect our humanity, and look where it got him." Andrea said quietly, shaking her head softly in disbelief. "I should have… sided with him. Maybe then he wouldn't have tried to take matters in to his own hands. I mean… I was a civil rights lawyer for Christ's sake."

"Don't…" Rose shook her head. "Don't blame yourself." She stepped away from Andrea and hung the towel back on it's rack. "We all let this happen. We all _made _this happen." Rose turned back and faced Andrea, leaning against the wall behind her.

_I made this happen._

They stood quietly, looking at the floor and reflecting on the death of their friend.

"This world has changed us Andrea." Rose spoke up after a few minutes. "You may have been a civil rights lawyer then but there may not be a place for that in these times. Dale wasn't just fighting against us, he was fighting against the way of the world."

"He was the only one who refused to change with it." Andrea added dryly. "Except maybe you. Maybe you were always hard-headed." She commented with a grim smirk.

"Just like you." Rose scoffed back, wiping the drying tears off her face.

"…And Dale." Andrea smiled softly, looking subconsciously at the sink.

"Hmm…" Rose snorted quietly. "Actually, pretty much everybody in this group."

Andrea looked up at Rose, eyes red and a sad smile on her lips. They laughed silently. Sorrow circling back to disillusioned humour.

…...

"Hello trouble." Daryl stated mockingly as he bent down to pick up Randall's cut and frayed rope bindings. "Looks like he cut himself loose here." He stood up and looked around the stables, peering into the horse's stall beside him.

Elliot turned and followed suite, looking in each of the shadowed stable's partitions, rifle raised at his shoulder. He got to the end and looked back, Daryl watching Elliot's silhouette shaking his head. He turned back to the dirt, looking for his next clue for Randall's direction.

"Think Rick was right." Daryl surmised. "Looks like he took off towards the front road." He squinted around behind himself, looking off into the dark. The moon was high but visibility couldn't be more than 30 yards. He sighed quietly and gestured with a nod for Elliot to follow him after Randall on foot. Elliot kept up with Daryl's pace as they hot footed it towards the farm's entry.

...

_*** did everybody enjoy the mid-season finale? It was awesome. Now we just need to stay strong until TWD returns to our screens. In the mean time, I'll keep this fic rolling to help with the cravings. x.**_


	23. Chapter 23

There had been no signs of Randall for the last half an hour. Once Daryl and Elliot got to the bitumen, there was nothing to follow anymore. They were now just jogging blindly down the road, heading towards the town (as best they could figure).

"Ay, hol' up." Daryl said as he slowed, head cocked slightly and listening to the night.

Elliot dropped the pace to a stop and listened along with Daryl.

"It's Rick and Shane." Elliot said about the quiet rumble of a distant but approaching vehicle. "That's the sound of Otis' truck."

Daryl nodded, keeping his crossbow to his shoulder just in case. He gestured with a nod to the side of the road, where a large tree had fallen many years before all this shit happened. Elliot and Daryl hopped to the other side of it and waited for the truck.

The choked rumble of the old pickup was louder than all hell, at least that was what it seemed like to Elliot in comparison to the almost silent trek he and Daryl had just been on. It was Otis' truck. Daryl stepped forward, with a wave of two fingers, signalling for Rick and Shane to pull over.

"Anything?" Rick asked, winding down his passenger side window.

"He's out here somewhere." Daryl answered with a dissatisfied shake of his head. "Can't have had more 'n five minutes on us, and he's got a cut up leg."

"I take it you tracked him to the road." Shane cut in.

"Naw, we just out here seein' the sights." Elliot sneered quietly.

"Alright." Rick said, feeling like the teacher breaking up school yard fights, again. "We do one more pass and then head back to the farm. If we don't find him, we start preparing for the worst. Get in." He pointed over his shoulder to the truck bed.

Daryl spat to the grass beside the truck, and looked back over his shoulder at Elliot before turning to speak to Rick. "Captain America an' I will go back to the farm through the woods. Jus' in case Randy's in there." He said with a thumb over his shoulder at the trees.

"You sure?" Rick asked, tilting his head to look warily at Daryl.

"Yeah." Elliot spoke up. "We got it."

Rick nodded slowly and looked back at Shane. He sighed and looked at the pair outside. "Okay. See you back at the farm."

Daryl nodded with a jut of his chin, his mouth tucked in to a small line, and stepped back from the road.

The truck pulled away with a lumpy rev and a judicious look from Rick from the side rear-view mirror.

"You really think he's in the woods?" Elliot asked, unsure about Daryl's motives.

"Well, he ain't out here." Daryl answered dryly. "And I ain't anywhere near stupid enough to get in the back of the truck with Shane behind the wheel."

…...

They'd been gone too long. Rick and Shane returned an hour ago, saying Daryl and Elliot were going to cut back through the trees to the farmhouse. It's slow going, off the beaten path, but it still shouldn't take this long.

"We'll give them another half hour." Rick confided with Rose. "If they aren't back by then, I'll go back out."

She gave a quiet nod and returned to her seat on the sofa beside Patricia. The lounge and dining had become waiting rooms, filled with the usual tension and stress, only missing the few old magazines that no one touches.

Rick had returned empty handed, no sign of Randall. He sat at the end of the dining table beside Lori, pinching the bridge of his nose softly and trying to think.

"Are we going to bury Dale?" Sophia asked her mother. They were together on a large lounge chair, holding each other. She had said it quietly but, with the grim silence, her voice was loud enough for everybody to hear.

"We will tomorrow." Carol said softly, stroking her daughters blonde bob.

The room dropped into silence again, only the ticking of an old heirloom clock on the mantle cutting the air. It was enough to frustrate Rose, the quiet metronome out of sync with her twitching pulse. Time is relative. Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it will seem like an hour. Same as every anxious second of waiting for news feels like a lifetime.

Andrea, T-Dog and Glenn, stood scattered around the lounge room. Carl by Lori's side in the dining room, with Shane up the other end of the table. Hershel and Maggie were with Beth in her room, Jimmy having retreated to his own room a while ago.

Rose ran her finger back through her hair and rolled her neck. The quiet crunch drawing Andrea's watery blue eyes to her for a moment. The women grimaced at each other before looking away again. Rose knew Andrea was probably feeling that same hot sick feeling as her. Someone she cared for was out there in the dark.

Hershel cleared his throat and stepped into the room, drawing attention to himself. Rick stood up and walked in to the lounge to see him.

"I want all your people to stay in the house tonight Rick, and from now on." Hershel stated squarely. "I should have moved you all in here a long time ago, but I have been foolish. It is not safe out there anymore."

"It might be a tight fit." Rick said, giving Hershel fair warning.

"We'll make it work." Hershel replied with a solemn nod, keeping Rick's eye.

"Thank you." Rick nodded.

Hershel looked up over Rick's shoulder, a shadow beyond the lounge room's lace curtains catching his eye. Rick turned, following Hershel's questioning stare. He saw for himself as a form passed in front of the next window, the moonlight casting a silhouette.

"Everybody get down!" He hissed, moving quickly to the lights, casting the room into darkness.

Rose dropped off the sofa beside Patricia, blinded until her eyes adjusted to the dark, keeping a hand to the older woman's shoulder and wincing slightly as she landed a little hard on her knee. She looked back to see Carol and Sophia following suit behind the armchair. T-Dog and Andrea drawing their handguns and watching Rick intently. Shane moving to the doorway to keep himself between Lori and danger.

Rick looked back to make sure Lori and Carl were down. His family safely hidden in the dining room, he stepped to the front door, hoping to peek past the curtains for a glimpse at the prowler.

It could only be Randall or a walker. Daryl and Elliot would have made their presence known and just walked straight in.

Rose felt Patricia shaking slightly beside her. Cupping Patricia's hand, Rose squeezed gently and reassuringly, receiving a weak smile in return.

The shadow made it's way slowly towards the front door, passing in front of the house.

"Walker." Rick whispered, Andrea crept forward to his side, switching the safety off her gun. Rick plucked the knife off his belt and opened the hinged blade. He readied himself to open the door and take down the (hopefully) lone Dead.

The shadow suddenly stopped, as if something had drawn it's attention. And, like the strings had been cut on a marionette, the body dropped to the ground with a thud. Twice dead.

The sound of heavy boots on the porch steps and a whistle from beyond the door, signalled the return of the rest of their party. Rose breathed softly, letting the tension wash from her body with a cold shudder.

Rick opened the door, keeping his knife in hand.

"What the hell…?" Elliot's voice from outside pulling Rose's trigger and getting her quickly to her feet. She stepped to Andrea's side, the pair following Rick out the door.

Looking to the felled Walker, a sickening lurch hit the back of Rose's throat. Daryl bent down to pull his arrow from the side of the Dead's head, his face a mixture of anger, remorse and confusion.

With a soft squelch, he drew the bolt from Dale's temple. "Sorry Brother." He offered up quietly and regretfully.

The confused silence lasted a moment too long, drawing a few others to the doorway behind Rose and Andrea. Feeling a small someone push against her lower back, Rose turned and grabbed Carl, pushing him backwards into the lounge and looking for Lori. Making eye contact with his mother, Rose shot her a look saying 'you don't want him to see this'.

Lori grabbed her son by his wrist and dragged him away from the entry way. Shane quietly scolding him for slipping away "Carl, quit tryna get yourself killed, man."

"How did this happen?" Andrea asked breathlessly, stepping forward to kneel down beside Dale's corpse.

"Didn't Randall kill him?" Glenn asked as he and T-Dog stepped out to the porch. "I mean, with his knife, not a Walker bite."

"Yeah." Rick answered, not knowing what to say. "He did."

"Then how is Dale a Walker?" Elliot asked no one in particular.

"Maybe the knife had Walker blood on it." T-Dog offered, lip curling and eyes still lingering on Dale's body. "You know, blood contamination, like AIDS or something."

"Maybe." Rick said quietly. He looked back in the house past T-Dog and Glenn, seeing Lori and Carl, and Rose.

…...

The grey sky matched the dark mood. The swollen clouds holding back the rain like so many tried to hold back the tears. It wasn't raining yet, but it was going to.

"Dale could get under your skin. He sure got under mine." Rick's solemn words wrapped Rose's heartstrings around her throat, constricting her choked back tears. The pain in his words hurting her all the more. "Because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare, and brave. Whenever I'd made a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it, one time or another." He paused momentarily, collecting his strength, and looking briefly to Rose for some more. Too bad she didn't have any to spare. "I couldn't always read him, but he could always read us. Saw people for who they were. He knew things about us - the truth, who we really are. And in the end, when he was talking about losing our humanity, he said this group is broken." Rose felt Daryl tense slightly beside her at Rick's words. "The best way to honour him is to un-break it. Set aside our differences and pull together. Stop feeling sorry for ourselves, and take control of our lives. Our safety. Our future." Rick looked briefly at Shane before dropping his eyes again to the hole in the ground where Dale lay. "We're not broken, we're gonna prove him wrong. From now on we're gonna do it his way, that is how we honour Dale."

…...

"Is that Dale's rifle?" Glenn asked as Andrea emerged from the RV, weapon in hand.

"Yes." Andrea replied, looking over the rifle in her hands. "He must have left it in here before…"

Glenn just answered with a nod.

"Are we keeping a lookout up here still?" Rose walked over from the van.

"No." Andrea shook her head softly, eyes still on the gun that would always be 'Dale's'. "We're just going to have the windmill, the house and the barn as the lookout points."

Rose turned in time to see Rick walking towards the barn.

"Well the van is all packed up." Rose said, watching Rick. She turned to look at Glenn and Andrea. "Are you guys okay with the RV? I might go see if Rick needs any help."

"We've got it." Glenn answered.

Rose was only half listening. She nodded and walked off after Rick, ready to apologise for the other day with Carl.

…...

_Goddamn Hershel. Call this a shed._

Elliot looked around the messy tool storage. The 20x20 shack had a few benches that were piled with a variety of hand and power tools, half finished projects and what can only be described as an 'assortment' of nail, screws and other fasteners. The chaos and blackness of the windowless room spun Elliot out, as he searched through for the things he needed to help secure the farm. Primarily a hammer and nails.

He stopped and listened when he heard Shane's Hyundai pull up outside. Not interested in another fight, and resigned to keep a temporary truce as per Rick's request, he kept quiet while he searched. With some amount of luck, he put his hand on an old flashlight. It still had batteries (surprisingly), giving Elliot the light he needed to search without drawing any attention to himself.

He looked through the pile of plastic containers, seeking the right gauge nails for fastening boards to windows. Big enough to hold the boards up against Walkers, not so big it splits the old weathered timber piled up outside the shed.

Elliot could hear Shane sorting through the wood pile. Selecting bits for the windmill lookout platform he was setting to fix. He was surprised when he heard another voice.

Lori was out there, talking with Shane in hushed voices. Not one to afford privacy when he can get away with a good pry, Elliot cracked the door slightly, keen to hear just what Rick's wife could possibly have to say to Shane.

"I made a mess of things." Lori afforded quietly. Not being able to see her, Elliot just pictured her all teary and uncertain from the sound of her cracked voice. "I put you and Rick at odds. I don't even know whose baby this is." Elliot cringed slightly.

_Goddamn it woman. Way to throw in a little more drama._

"I can't imagine how hard that is on you. You lead us out of Atlanta with no thought for yourself." Lori sobbed, her voice dropping. "You remember that night? The flames. And I'm sitting in your car thinking 'we're gonna be alright, he gonna make it alright. We're gonna get out of here'. And I never thanked you for that. Even though things got confused between us, you were there for me. You were there for me."

Elliot shook his head in the dark.

"Whatever happened between us," Lori said earnestly. "and not just you… I'm sorry."

…...

"You gave him a gun?" Rose asked Rick quietly with a soft grimace, and a gesture towards the hayloft where Carl was on look out.

"One of the glocks I found at Mert County lockup." He answered, stopping in front of her and looking up to where his son was still sitting in the window.

"Nice speech." She pushed her hands into her back pocket, kicking some dirt around to avoid looking Rick in the eye. "No more kids stuff, huh?"

"Oh, you heard that?" He watched her intently, for the first time ever she looked uncomfortable around him. He didn't like it.

Rose sighed softly, rubbed her forehead with her fingertips and looked up to see Rick. "I'm sorry Rick." She professed quietly. "I scared him… it wasn't my place." Shaking her head, she looked away again.

"I appreciate your apology." Rick said stepping towards her and placing his hands on her shoulders again. "But I think I am the one who owes an apology."

Rose looked back up to him, Rick crumpling slightly at the sight of her grey stare.

"Rose, I shouldn't have put you and Dale in the position you were in. I just…" Rick confessed.

"I just couldn't see past the fear. But you could. And Dale could." He said with a nod. Rose's eyes watered slightly at the mention of Dale, her self-blame creeping into the back of her throat again. "I trust you Rose. I would trust you with my life… and with Carl's."

Rose smiled softly and wiped away her tears, shaking her head at herself and her damn waterworks. She looked back up to Rick, and found she just didn't have anything to say.

"Come on." Rick said, turning her around with a gentle nudge to her shoulder. "Lets go finish setting up our new home."

She nodded silently and followed beside Rick back to the farmhouse.

…...

_***It's my birthday today. And all three of my Walking Dead stories just got into the community page 'The Best of Daryl Dixon'. Happy times.**_


	24. Chapter 24

Rose bundled up the loose van bedding. The blankets and sheets and pillow, which she had thankfully washed when she got the chance last week. Not entirely sure what Elliot had in mind, Rose was just going to leave the mattress for him and keep the rest for herself. He always slept on top of the blankets anyway. Scooping it all together in her arms, she reversed out of the Econoline and trudged over to the porch stairs. She let out a small wince with each step on her right leg, her knee still acting up but useable.

Small beads of sweat dotted her forehead, making the few loose bits of hair around her face stick to her skin. The wind had dismissed the clouds from the morning, leaving another hot day in it's wake. She hitched up the blankets wondering if she should even bother setting up a bed, she didn't sleep a wink last night, finding it just impossible to switch off her thoughts.

Stepping into the doorway, Rose looked up from her bundle to see Daryl standing in the way. He attempted his best 'Daryl smile', which was always little more than a smirk, really.

"Where you sleepin'?" He asked, looking away from her eyes and taking the bunch of bedding out of her hands.

"Umm, I don't know." She shrugged, fighting away the smile biting at the inside of her mouth. "I haven't really looked around yet." She walked beside him into the house, wiping the sweat off her forehead on her shirt sleeve and just following his lead.

Daryl knew where he wanted to put her stuff. He walked into the lounge room, hesitating for only a heartbeat beside his own bedding before placing the pile next to Carol and Sophia's mattress and blankets.

Rose couldn't help feel a little disappointed. "Thanks." She said quietly, feeling the heat roll into her face at the thought.

"No problem." He shrugged, straightening up and looking away to his own bed a few feet away.

"So what's next?" Rose asked, her question having two separate meanings.

"I'm goin' out with Glenn and T to check all the cattle paddocks." Daryl chose to answer the easier of the connotations, knowing exactly what she actually meant. "Make sure we're as secure as we think we are."

Rose nodded, feeling worn and suddenly drained. "Good." She mumbled.

Daryl replied with a dry expression, a similar careworn look in his eyes. They briefly looked at each other, both feeling equally tired and ridiculous about the same stupid dance.

"Okay." Rose said looking away to her bedding. "I'll catch up with you later on or something." She busied herself with spreading out her blanket roll and pillow, sensing Daryl's reluctance before he turned and walked out of the house without saying anything else.

"Well that was awkward." Maggie stood in the doorway, arms folded across her chest with a leering smile on her face.

"Hmm." Rose replied, tight-lipped, only looking up briefly before returning to her work.

…...

The dry timber was old and weathered, but strong. Hershel said it had come from an old side building he had torn down a few years ago. It was a hard-wearing wood, heavy. If they had any 'visitors', this timber boarding on the windows would be something. Or at least more than nothing.

The impending possibility of another group, a potentially very dangerous group, invading the farm weighed heavily on Elliot. This place was their basket, where they kept every single one of their damn eggs. There was no second base of operations, no fall back. This was it. And they didn't have anywhere near enough weapons to protect it.

A few handguns and a couple of rifles. And some boarded up windows.

"Hey." Glenn passed the next wide board to Elliot, helping him line it up with the window frame. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Elliot grumbled, his consciousness returning to the present. "Fine."

"It's just that…" Glenn started, not knowing exactly what he was asking. "I guess, normally, it's hard to get you to _stop _talking."

"Got somethin' to talk _about_?" Elliot asked, holding a nail in place before hitting it in to the timber with a few hard taps.

"I don't know. Maybe." He replied.

"Gonna keep me guessin'?." Elliot was getting short.

"Uhh… So, Maggie told me she loves me." Glenn said with a dry grimace.

"Congratulations." Elliot scoffed, eyes still on the nail. "When's the wedding?"

"Ha ha, very funny." Glenn rolled his eyes, not entirely surprised by Elliot's comment. "The thing is… I kinda got this speech off of Hershel the other day too. About being good enough for his daughter. …And he gave me this." He pulled the silver heirloom pocket watch from his jeans, passing it to Elliot for closer inspection.

"Fuck man." Elliot said with a hint of awe, turning over the trinket in his hand. "That's alright."

"Is it? I mean, would any of this be happening if it wasn't the 'end of the world'?" Glenn said upset as Elliot passed the watch back. "She only said it because she is scared."

"Ay? You're trippin' man." Elliot shook his head and scoffed at Glenn. "That farmer's daughter ain't the type to just do something out of fear. Beside…" He said with a broad grin across his face and drawing himself up tall, with a good 12 inches of height on Glenn. "…look at you and look at me. She musta seen something in you if she chose that over this."

Glenn shook his head and made a soft, offended noise. "You are the worst person for advise."

"Yeah, well. At least I ain't the 'chicken shit' with cold feet cuz of a girl and her daddy." Elliot mocked, swiping playfully at Glenn's arm with a soft punch.

"Thanks." Glenn answered, ignoring the verbal jab and rubbing his arm where his best friend landed his fist.

…...

The afternoon was dry, having missed out on the rain it needed. Shuffling along, Rose spoke to herself in a quiet husk, repeating her words over in her head. She was only gonna get one chance at this, it needed to be right.

Goddamn he was hard to talk to. Actual fear was pooling in her stomach. The doubt in her mind telling her this was one of the stupidest things she was ever going to do in her life, but she had to talk to him all the same.

He was hanging off the side of the windmill, nailing down a few of the heavier pieces of timber, creating the key lookout point and first line of defence for the farm. Shane didn't hear her approach, the bang of the hammer on the deep flooring nails left a ringing in his ears.

"Hey." Rose shouted up from the bottom of the tower, a hand at her brow shielding her eyes from the sun. "How's it going? Do you need anything?"

Shane looked down under his arm, a few five inch nails in the corner of his mouth. Seeing Rose he returned to his work, lining up the next nail before he called back. "No. I got it."

Rose sighed and just stood waiting at the ground, not sure how to proceed. She scratched at the back of her head and returned to protecting her eyes.

Noticing she hadn't left yet, Shane squinted back down at her, plucking the nails from his mouth. "You want something?" He asked agitated.

"Can I talk with you a minute?" She requested, quieter.

Shane wasn't in the most accommodating mood, least of all for her. He put down the hammer and nails and wiped the sweat off his brow. Climbing down in a huff, Shane stepped off the frame and Rose passed him a bottle of water.

Face to face with him, her words seemed to have deserted her. He looked her up and down briefly between swigs then shot her a look that said, 'Com'on then, I ain't got all day'.

Rose swallowed the lump, and studied Shane quickly with a small grimace. She finally spoke, her voice not sounding as confident as she had aimed for. "Shane, I really hope you don't think I was in on some plan to set Randall free. That wasn't it at all. I just didn't get the whole 'kill or be killed' thing, I'm sorry."

He looked at her with a contorted frown, trying to decide if she was genuinely apologising or if she was just working her words to get something out of him. Either way, he wasn't one to just hand out a free pass anyway. "I'mma tell you what I said to Dale when he came askin' me to let that rodent live; I told him, that guy kills somebody, I ain't gonna need to say a goddamn thing, cuz that blood ain't on me. And if you're feeling the need to apologise, I guess that blood has landed on you."

Rose's eyelids fluttered softly as the sting of tears settled behind her eyes. Her mouth twitched a little as she drew her lips back to silence her choking. She breathed heavily, not willing to speak until she was certain she wasn't going to cry.

"Why didn't _you _kill Randall?" Rose asked, pushing as much backbone into her words as she could. "You were so certain. Rick would have forgiven you eventually, he always does. So why didn't you kill him? Why did it have to be Rick?"

"Hey!" He stepped towards her, closing the space between them and raising a finger, pointing at her chest. "I never said Rick had to do it. He put that on himself!"

"Bullshit." Rose shot back, intimidated by Shane but not flinching in the slightest. "You made it all about proving something. Proving that he loved his family. You know you did."

Shane glared at Rose, his hand clenching beside him. If she wern't a girl he would have smacked her to the dirt. "Pftt…" He scoffed, dismissing her with a wave of his hand as he stepped back to the tower.

"Hey!" She shouted, Shane snapping around to look at her again. Rose walked over to him, fuelled by her fear and adrenalin. "Believe it or not, I didn't come over here for a fight."

"Don't kid yerself, sister." He shook his head.

"Shane…" She sighed. "You know the expression 'forgive and forget'?"

"Goodbye Rose." He blew her off, putting his hands back to the windmill frame.

"I ain't talking about me!" She huffed. "I'm talking about Rick."

"You got a real thing for him, don'cha?" Shane scoffed, dropping a single hand back down by his side and turning to face her, Rose recapturing his attention.

"Look," She ignored his comment and pressed on determined to say her piece. "I just want to say this one thing and then I'm outta ya hair." She looked briefly to his clippered hair and continued. "A person's capacity to forgive and forget directly comes from just how much they love the person they are forgiving. So next time you are looking at Rick with all that hate and anger you're storing up, I want you to remember just how much he must actually love you. Cuz he has let a lot of shit slide for you, Shane."

"Get outta here." Shane turned away from Rose and climbed up the windmill to return to his work.

…...

"Elliot." Andrea ventured, approaching him as he got out of the Econoline.

Elliot had just given it a clean under the hood and turned it over. It started like the day it came off the assembly line, or at least, that's what Elliot told himself. Andrea's timid voice caught him by surprise.

"Hey." He smiled while he was distracted, quickly realising his mistake. "What do you want?" He continued gruffly.

"I just wanted to say, that… you did a good job with the windows." She finished quickly, hearing how lame her words were as they left her mouth. "It should give us a real chance against whatever may come."

"Yeah, well… It was Hershel's idea." Elliot closed the van's door and looked at Andrea's softly smiling expression that warmed those ice blue eyes of hers.

She softly nodded at him as her smiled faded. "Anyway, I should…" She excused herself, gesturing over her shoulder to the house.

"Yeah. I got shit to do too." Elliot picked at his fingernail before putting his finger to his lips to bite his nail. The hand to the mouth subconsciously preventing anymore words from passing his teeth. He watched her back away and turn, leaving him standing beside the van wondering just exactly how once those eyes of hers landed on him they made him forget he was mad at her.

…...

"Do you think we should keep one of the cars stocked with supplies?" Carol asked Rose as they stood on the front porch with Andrea.

The farm looked so open without the camp set up. Nothing between them and the twilight and the cool evening air. All the cars were lined up together beside the house. Everyone's bedding scattered around the living room inside.

"Actually, it's probably worth keeping a couple of the cars loaded with a few supplies." Andrea added.

"We'll there is some supplies in all the cars but they aren't divided up properly. Blankets in one, tools in another. But yeah, you're right." Rose agreed. "It's going to get dark soon but maybe we could go through them quickly, put some of everything in each. Carol, can you sort out a few cans of food for each car as well, and some bottled water too if we can spare it. Andrea and I will sort out other things." She said turning to the blonde. "Is that okay? Maybe grab some first aid things from Hershel as well?"

"…and some guns with ammo." Andrea said with a nod, turning to walk down the porch steps. "I'll go speak to Shane, see what we can spare." She slid her hands in her pockets and jogged off to the windmill where Shane was taking watch.

"Okay." Rose said to Carol, brushing her hands on her jeans. "Where's Lori?"

"She is reading to Carl and Sophia in a bedroom, keeping them together in the house." Carol answered.

_Thank Christ for that._ Rose thought.

"Well, I'll go get started on the cars." She replied with a soft smile to Carol. She walked away with a weird feeling, realising that she and Carol hadn't talked comfortably for quite a while. Something was always a bit weird between them. Rose put it down to not being in the 'mother's club' that her and Lori were so cozy in. And Lori wasn't exactly on the best terms with Rose at the moment either.

Popping open the back of the station wagon and raising the heavy door, Rose started taking stock of what was already there. She held on to the tailgate above her head, resting her head on her forearms and looking into the back of Rick's car, but not really seeing anything.

She turned her head to the side and looked to the end of the row of vehicles. Daryl's motorbike.

"Hey." Rick's subdued voice startled Rose.

"Oh, hey." She blushed slightly, turning quickly to see Rick walking from the front of the house.

"I just saw Carol inside. She filled me in on the plan." Rick said as he came to a stop beside her, resting his hands on his hips. "Can I help?"

Rose smiled softly to herself. Rick asking how he could help her out felt a little ridiculous. "Er… maybe you could make up some first aid kits that we can chuck in each car?"

"No problem." He said with a nod, looking at her with that distinctive tired, yet still soldiering on, Rick expression.

"Thanks Rick." Rose offered. "I…"

"RICK!" Shane's familiar scared and angry yell causing Rick and Rose to jump and turn towards the hurried approach. "Rick! We got a problem!" He stormed towards the bank of cars.

"What is it Shane?!" Rick said, the pair instantly switching into action mode. Rose released the tailgate, her hand dropping behind her back to confirm that she still had her gun in the back of her jeans.

"Car headlights." He said, worked up, looking around the farmhouse as if the enemy were already here. "Through the tree, towards the road, man. We gotta move! Get ready!"

"Did Andrea see them?" Rose asked, regretting her questioning as Shane spun to look at her. His surprised look said he hadn't realised she was there.

"What?!" Shane barked.

"Nothing." Rose said, Rick stepping slightly in front of her.

"Okay." Rick smothered Shane's anger. "Get the guns from the house. I'll go get Elliot and Daryl. I sent them out earlier to do a sweep of the back fences."

"We ain't got time for that Rick!" Shane stepped towards him, finger pointing at Rick's chest, just like he had to Rose earlier when she had challenged him. He liked to make his point with aggressive gestures.

Rick turned to face Rose. "I wouldn't normally ask you Rose, but… take T-Dog, go find Daryl and Elliot. Tell them…"

"What?!" Rose cut in, quietly worked up. "You're not going out there with _him_ are you?"

"Rick!" Shane shouted, getting the attention from others inside.

"Rose, please!" Rick pleaded again. "Go find Daryl and Elliot. I have to go check this out."

"What's happening Rick?" Glenn asked, coming out from the house and looking down at the Rick and Rose from the house porch, followed by T-Dog, Hershel and Lori.

"T! I'mma need some guns!" Shane barked.

T-Dog gave a short nod and ducked back inside to get the weapons.

"Where's Andrea?" Rose asked Shane, looking past Rick's shoulder.

"She's on the lookout." He answered, looking back at her with a heated glare.

"Rick, don't go. It doesn't feel right." She whispered looking back to Rick. "Stay here and protect the house." The doubt and fear in her voice came out as a cracked shake in her quieter tone.

"What's going on?" Lori asked, looking between Shane and Rick.

"There might be a car out the front." Rick answered his wife, raising his palm in a calming gesture. "Shane and I will go check it out. Maybe we can get the jump on them, or at least scout it out." He turned back to the woman beside him. "Rose, go get Daryl and Elliot." He repeated. "I know what I'm doing."

The way he said it chilled Rose more than thought of intruders ever could. Rick gave her a meaningful look and rest his hand on the Python, holstered on his hip. She stepped back from him, frowning at his meaning, just as T-Dog emerged from the house with a couple of the Mossberg shotguns, passing them quickly to Shane.

Rick turned from Rose and walked over to Shane. Lori's eyes teared and flickered as both the men looked at her with the same damn expression. And she didn't know what either of them meant.

"Keep to the house." Rick affirmed, receiving one of the shotguns and checking it was loaded. With a sharp nod and last look at everybody, he and Shane ran off towards the front of the farm, disappearing into the darkness.

"Fuck." Rose whispered angrily, running her fingers back through her hair. She looked around her, mind reeling.

"Rose." Lori's breathless voice from the farmhouse porch dragged her back to her surroundings. "Rose, go find Daryl and Elliot."

Lori's plea was heartfelt, scaring Rose a little that she too could see the trouble in the waters.

"T, come with me. Bring another gun." Rose blinked away the water in her eyes, swiping quickly at her face with the back of her hand. "Everybody else, back inside in case this is actually it. Keep everybody safe."


	25. Chapter 25

_***I don't know if you guys could tell but I struggled a bit with the last two chapters. This one however, I think I nearly set the keyboard on fire. Let me know what you think. X.**_

…...

Keeping their hot pace, Daryl and Elliot moved quickly and silently through the night. Running the fence line where paddock met tree line. They didn't need to speak or look at each other, having become quite the team. Strong, quick and soundless.

The cool night air chilled the sheen of perspiration on Daryl's arms and face. Elliot just as warm was thankful for the chilly bite in the air, it gave them the relief they needed to continue for as long as they had to.

A quiet grunting noise drew the combined attention of the patrolling pair. Somewhere, not far in front of them, something was moving in the night. Slowing the jog to a quick walk, and drawing their weapons up, Elliot and Daryl strained to look into the dark. Daryl checked his bolt was sitting right, and raised his Horton to his eyelevel, waiting for whatever it was to show itself as he stalked closer.

"Ugh… god damn it." The quiet strained words told them it wasn't a walker, but rather something much worse out here in the dark.

"The hell you doin' here Rose?!" Elliot whispered angrily to the darkness, waiting until the woman showed herself.

"Shit! You scared the hell out of me!" She shot back, her voice constrained and irritable.

Rose and T-Dog followed along the fence until they found Elliot and Daryl. Rose's arm was draped around T's neck, his arm holding her up around her waist.

"What happen to you?" Daryl asked quietly, his eyes scanning her quickly, noticing she was favouring her left side again.

"Fucking knee." She spat angrily.

"She tripped on a hole in the dark." T-Dog answered for her, smirking. "Now I gotta drag her sorry ass around."

"Nevermind that." She whispered like an livid snake. "You need to go help Rick, now!"

"Where is he? What's goin' on?" Elliot asked, tensing up.

"Front of the farm." She answered hastily, looking between Daryl and Elliot. "Shane said he saw car headlights and dragged Rick off with a pair of shotguns. Rick told me to come find you guys. He needs some …back up."

The way she finished her explanation made something tighten in Daryl's stomach. There was more.

"What is it?" He asked, knowing she would know what he meant.

"Something's… not right." She finished lamely. "I don't know what but Rick sensed it, and I think Lori did too. Something is wrong with Shane."

"When is anything right with Shane." Daryl murmured. The humour in his statement lost between the truth of it and the dry sneer as it passed his teeth.

Elliot stepped to Rose's other side, preparing to help her back to the farm house with T-Dog.

"What are you doing?" She hissed, shoving him away. "Go help Rick!"

"I ain't leaving you out here in the dark." He shot back.

"T-Dog and I are fine!" Her voice elevated a little, causing T to look around behind them in the dark feeling as though she was drawing in any nearby walkers. "You need to go now!"

Daryl looked at T semi-questionably, to which T-Dog replied by pulling out his Glock and nodding with a look that said 'I got it'.

"Com' on." Daryl said to Elliot regrettably, looking back towards the farmhouse in the distance, only visible by the few lit up windows.

Elliot huffed and shook his head at Rose, before falling in beside Daryl. They had only taken a few steps when a gun crack sounded in the night.

A single shot.

Stopping dead and listening for a few heartbeats for another shot, Daryl, Elliot, T-Dog and Rose stood breathlessly in the dark.

"One shot." Rose whispered.

"Not good." T-Dog finished.

"We gotta move." Elliot ordered, looking back at Rose.

Daryl pressed the butt of his crossbow into Elliot's chest, the soldier taking it with a questioning look. Brushing his hands on his jeans, Daryl walked quickly up to Rose. He ducked down in front of her and grabbed her around the waist, pushing into her and lifting her over his shoulder as he stood back up.

"What are you doing?!" She hissed angrily, struggling against him as he caught her by surprise. "Put me down. Go find Rick."

"Sit still or I'll drop you on yer neck." He threatened, tempted to smack her on the ass. "We' ain't leavin' you out here in the dark if somethin' is up, and yer gonna slow us down."

Elliot laughed quietly, satisfied at seeing her handled like a dead buck, knowing she was gonna be pissed off. Slinging Daryl's crossbow over his shoulder, Elliot led the way, with a quick pace, back to the farm with his M4 raised in front of him.

Rose was angry as a sack of cats. But Daryl was right, she was a liability. Her rage redirected at herself and her fucking knee, she sat still and allowed herself to be hauled back to the farmhouse, embarrassingly.

T-Dog and Elliot couldn't help but share a smirked look as they ran back to the Greene house, cutting across the north paddock. Daryl holding Rose tightly across the back of her thighs.

They moved quickly, cutting through the dark. Rose hanging on to Daryl with a few handfuls of the back of his leather vest. Trying her best to keep still, but also keep her head up and hang onto to whatever dignity she had left.

A second distant gunshot cracked though the air and echoed around the open farm. Rose tensed up, but the men just kept running, the sound only spurring them like a whip crack.

Nearing the house, Elliot took off at a faster sprint, readying people for their arrival and desperate to know the full situation. He leapt up the stairs, barely touching the boards and disappeared inside the screen door, which he flung open with a bang against the side of the house.

"Stop. Please." Rose begged, grabbing Daryl on the back of his arm. Hearing the desperate plea in her voice, Daryl slowed and stopped a few yards from the house. T-Dog stopping beside him, out of breath.

Lowering her slowly, Daryl let her slide off his shoulder, meeting her eyes for a close second. Her breath on his lips. "Thankyou." She said, hair messed up but grateful she could be spared the humiliation from everyone else seeing her being carried. She stepped back out of his arms and straightened her loose t-shirt. "Go. Find Rick." Rose wobbled slightly on her knee and beckoned T closer. Daryl bit at the inside of his mouth and moved around her, following Elliot up the stairs.

Before he could get inside, Elliot stormed back out.

"Where's Andrea?" He asked Rose, shoving Daryl's crossbow back at him.

"She's out there, at the windmill." T-Dog answered as he moved under Rose's arm and helped her hop towards the stairs. "Far as we know."

Daryl stepped around Elliot to go inside the house; he needed that Remington shotgun he had at the barn. He came face to face with Lori, as she stepped into the doorway. Her fingertips were at her forehead, worriedly playing with the fringe in her teary eyes. Daryl stepped back slightly, caught off guard.

Seeing Lori from the bottom of the stairs, Rose called out to her. "Lori, what's wrong?"

"Carl's gone." She replied back, blinking like she only just realised where she was. "He was upstairs, but I can't find him anymore. He's suppose to be upstairs." Lori repeated.

"Well where the hell else could he be at?" Elliot yelled at Lori, sick of this same fucking situation they keep seeming to find themselves in.

"The barn." Rose answered for her, looking Lori in the eyes for confirmation. Lori nodded subtly. "Elliot and Daryl, you two have to go after Rick, now." She ordered as she turned to the man beside her and grasped on to the rail at the side of the stairs. "T, can you take Glenn and check out the barn, please?" Rose got a quick nod from T-Dog and he ran up the stairs to get Glenn.

T-Dog stepped past Lori as she came out, Daryl following in behind him to get the shotgun. Elliot watching everybody swarm around between looks off into the dark towards the windmill.

"Lori!" Yelling to get the woman's attention and then dropping her voice to a more comforting level, Rose continued. "Lori, go check again inside. Check the roof, attic… wherever."

"He isn't there." The mother answered back. "I already looked."

"So look again!" Rose barked, loosing her calming air.

Lori seemed to wake from her shock and turned to go back inside, again nearly colliding with Daryl as he was coming out.

Daryl and Elliot made the briefest of eye contact before both turning and jogging down the stairs. Daryl looked to Rose. One of those time-slowed-down moments.

_Don't go anywhere. _

_Be safe._

She nodded and leaned back against the stair rail, watching Daryl and Elliot take off into the night.

"STOP!" Hershel's voice made Rose jump and stopped Elliot and Daryl in their tracks, a pair of binoculars around his neck. "Look out there." He pointed out towards the open farm, between the barn and the front paddocks.

Rose's throat tightened as she followed his finger out into the moonlit grounds.

"Patricia, kill the lights." Hershel instructed, his tone lowering to a less alerting, but far more alarming, tone.

The house went dark behind them, Glenn, T-Dog and Patricia joining them on the porch.

Movement. Lots of it.

People.

No, not people.

"Oh my god." Patricia exclaimed.

Rose's tearing eyes flicked to Daryl as he spun around to find her again. He returned to the house with Elliot, shaking his head softly with a tight line for a mouth.

"I'll get the guns." T-Dog said, turning back in to the house.

"Maybe it will be like the herd on the highway." Glenn offered, looking between Hershel and Elliot, who was at the bottom of the steps. "Should we just go inside?"

"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about." Daryl stated to the group, picking up Rose's arm and holding her up on the stairs. "Herd that size'll rip the house down." He looked at Rose unhappily and said quieter. "We need to go."

"You can go if you want." Hershel said, taking off the binoculars, resting them on the chair behind him and receiving a shotgun from T-Dog.

"What you gonna take 'em all on?" Elliot asked with a trim of humour in his voice.

"We have guns. We have cars." The older man said by way of answer.

"We'll kill as many as we can." Glenn offered, looking to Hershel then Elliot, nodding. "Then we use the cars to lead the rest off the farm."

"You serious?" Daryl asked, surprised and a little impressed.

"This is my farm." Hershel answered as Maggie came out the door and stood between Glenn and Patricia. "I'll die here."

"Alright." Daryl drawled with a shrug. "It's as good a night as any." He looked back to Rose, who had already pulled her 9mm from the back of her jeans. "Not you. Yer gonna take a car and get the hell outta here with Carol, Sophia and whoever else."

"And Rick…?" Rose asked, shaking her head like she had no idea what to do anymore.

"Rick will work his own way back." Daryl said, looking to the front of the farm, trying to believe his own lie.

Rose's soft shake turned into a shiver, Daryl feeling her tense up in his hand.

"It's gonna be alright." He whispered gruffly to her. "Go."

She steeled herself, still feeling like watery goop on the inside. She gave Daryl a stiff and dejected nod, her mouth a tight, grim line.

"Maggie, go get Beth, Carol and Sophia." She said, clearing her throat and hoping she didn't sound as weak as she felt. Rose looked over Daryl's shoulder, fear sweeping through her with a chill as the first of the hoard shuffled past the distant barn. Daryl was biting the inside of his cheek, torn between the task at hand and making sure she got out safe.

Maggie burst back out of the house with Carol, Sophia and a few random people's backpacks in her arms. She ran down the stairs, almost losing her footing as she watched her father beside the house making sure his shotgun was fully loaded. Carol had an arm around Sophia, shielding her from seeing the herd of dead, steering her down the steps and towards the car.

Glenn and T-Dog were sorting out weapons from the gun bag, spread open on the farmhouse porch. Elliot grabbed a Glock from the bag and tucked it down the front of his pants, knowing he was gonna run out of ammo for the M4 before this was over.

"What you got left in that thing?" T-Dog asked, jutting his chin at the military standard issue rifle.

"Same as the day I met you T. 19 take downs." Elliot scoffed and shook his head at the weapon in hand.

"Take downs?" Questioned Glenn.

"As in, I take them down, they ain't getting back up again." He said with a cheesy leer off towards the herd.

"God. You are just in your element, aren't you?" Glenn shook his head with a worried frown at Elliot.

"You'll be alright man." Elliot said with a slap across Glenn's back as he stood up, feigning his humour. "Take Shane's car."

"I'll drive." Maggie said, standing at the bottom of the steps looking up at Glenn and Elliot.

"No. Go with Rose." Glenn pointed at the station wagon.

"You can't drive _and _shoot Glenn." Maggie pounced, arms dead straight by her side and a challenge in her eyes. "I'm sticking with you."

Glenn met her stare. Only a second passed but a thousand words could have spilled from that one exchange. "Okay." Glenn nodded, his shoulders dropping slightly. "Get the car."

Elliot walked to the side rail of the porch and swung his legs over, dropping to the ground and heading for the Econoline.

Daryl looked briefly at Rose. His mouth was parted and small, like he had words to say but no breath to push it out. Rose accepted his expression and closed her eyes for a second. She looked back up to his face and put a hand to his chest. "Go." She said with a gentle push. "I'll be fine. Go."

He gave her a tight nod, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth and jogged over to his bike without another word.

Patricia and Beth came out of the house, holding each other, Patricia having gone back inside to get her.

"The barn's on fire!" Beth exclaimed, looking at the orange glow pouring from the wooden structures large northern windows.

"They're drawn to it." Patricia said of the Walkers. "Maybe Rick set it to distract them."

The Econoline and Daryl's bike started, filling the quiet night with a loud roar. Glenn jumped in the Hyundai when Maggie pulled up in front of the house. T-Dog bounded down the steps and ran to Otis's truck, ripping open the door and climbing in.

"T!" Rose called out, T-Dog re-emerging at his name. "Can you go past the windmill?" Rose pointed towards the front of the farm. "Check on Andrea."

T-Dog gave a short nod and got back in to the truck, starting it with a lumpy rumble the second the door snapped shut. Elliot heard the exchange and gave Rose a 'thanks' kind of look as he pulled away from the house.

The van and truck started down the driveway, Daryl on the bike out in front. The RV started with a whine, snapping Rose's attention to the large vehicle. She could only just make out Jimmy in the driver's seat. Waving her arms and shouting, Rose tried to get Jimmy's attention.

"Don't go!" She yelled. "Jimmy!" Turning to see if Hershel could help her she saw the older man as he started firing his first shots at the approaching Dead. "Jimmy stop!" She screamed at the RV as it drove past, following the convoy.

Beth and Patricia walked down the steps, still holding each other, pausing to look at Rose.

"Get in the wagon." Rose instructed. "I'm going to go get Lori."

Beth and Patricia walked to the backseat and slid in beside Carol and Sophia.

Rose gripped the rail and ignored the stab of pain through her knee that stole her breath and made her dizzy. Hopping up the stairs, using her right leg as little as possible, Rose made it to the top and ran as best she could into the house. Straightening up as she staggered into the dining room, Rose met Lori as she ran from the back of the house.

"Rose." Lori choked up. "I can't find him anywhere. He's not in the attic or the cellar or anywhere." She panicked. "I don't know what to do. That's my boy!"

"You have to go Lori." Rose answered, hating the words as they left her mouth. "You're just gonna have to trust. If they find him, he's gonna need his mother." She reached forward and grabbed Lori's arm, putting as much weight as she could muster behind her shove. "Now come on! Lets go!"

Lori moved speechlessly, stumbling out the front door with Rose limping beside her.

Rose got her to the stairs and pushed her forward, down. Lori seemed dazed, or in shock or something. She tumbled down the steps and hit the ground on her knees. Rose slipped and followed Lori to the dirt, rolling to her side and screaming out in pain to the night.

Her breath came back to her with an awareness of their surroundings.

"Lori!" Rose hissed, clutching her knee. "Get in the fucking car!"

Lori climbed to her feet and staggered forward. Rose grabbed onto the stairs and pushed herself up to get back on her own shaky legs.

"Get in the driver's seat and start it up." Rose ordered over her shoulder, Lori operating on autopilot. Watching the pregnant mother get in the station wagon, a thought occurred to Rose. One she couldn't let go.

_What if Carl is in the slaughterhouse? You will never forgive yourself if you don't look._

"Goddamn it." She hissed to herself, under her breath. She dug her finger tips into the side railing of the farmhouse steps and pulled herself up, one destination in mind. She got her legs under her and limped off towards the small shed.

"Where are you going?" Carol called out the rear passenger window, scared.

"I have to check the slaughterhouse." Rose called back. She held up two fingers. "I'll be two minutes." She hoped she was right. Looking back over her shoulder, Rose could see Hershel getting surrounded slowly by the descending pack.

_If you're not dead already Carl, I'm going to kill you_.

She hurried best she could, relieved when she saw T-Dog in the blue truck pull up beside the station wagon. Rose fought away the dizzy spell and nerve shattering pain in her knee, and limped towards the side shed.

Stumbling to the slaughterhouse, out of breath and semi-blinded by the swirl of white spots in her vision, Rose ripped open the door.

"Carl?!" Rose shouted into the small room.

No reply.

"Fuck!" She screamed just as loud.

…...

T-Dog cut the engine and jumped out of Otis's truck. He had seen the station wagon still parked beside the house and doubled back to get it moving.

Seeing Lori behind the wheel of the family vehicle, the car started but not going anywhere, T-Dog ripped open the driver's door.

"Move over!" He shouted at Lori, shoving her across the bench seat. "What the hell are you doin'?" He climbed in and dropping the column shift into gear.

"Wait!" Carol and Beth exclaimed together. Carol continued. "We have to wait for Rose."

"No we have to go. Now!" T-Dog shouted, putting his foot on the gas and driving the car of screaming women out onto the gravel and off the farm property.

…...

Passing the station wagon in a blur, Elliot looked towards the farmhouse. Hershel was still firing into the herd, with his Remington shotgun. Shaking his head at the stubborn fool, he drove back up to the house.

Rick and Carl suddenly ran out in front of him on the gravel driveway, Rick's hand up waving him down to stop, the other hand holding up the pair of shotguns. His and Shane's. Slamming on the brakes, Elliot stopped and waited until Rick and his son were mostly inside the passenger side door before taking off again.

"We swing past Hershel. He can jump in the back!" Elliot shouted to Rick over the roar of the internal engine.

Hitting a walker or two on the way, Elliot drove as hard as he could push the van while Rick climbed over the seat and into the back, ready to swing open the doors as soon as Elliot stopped.

Hitting the brakes hard, the van came to a short stop. Rick flinging the van doors open and shouting for Hershel to get in. The vet followed orders and dove into the back of the van.

"GO! GO!" Rick shouted, dragging Hershel inside.

Elliot didn't need to be told twice. He spun the steering wheel and turned the van, tearing up the lawn and a few corpses on the way off the farm.

…...

Rose was out of breath and out of time. Clutching her knee and running because her life literally depended on it, Rose sprinted off-balance back to the front of the house.

The station wagon was gone.

The taillight's of Elliot's van were disappearing off the farm.

The moans of the nearest Walkers sent her stomach in a lurch, hurling her into action again.

Otis's truck was there.

Rose drew her 9mm and fired, dropping a corpse to the ground beside her. She stifled her own screaming and staggered to the truck. She ripped open the driver's side door and climbed into the raised vehicle. Rose wound up the window hastily in an attempt to buy herself a few seconds against the ascending herd. Fumbling with the keys that were thankfully still in the barrel, Rose's shaky hand turned the ignition.

Nothing but a dull whine from an old, overworked engine.

It was dead.

_So am I._

The passenger side window shattered. The flesh torn arm of a particularly fresh looking Walker, reached blindly into the truck, groping for Rose.

Turning in the seat, Rose knelt painfully on her knee and slid open the rear window of the truck. Avoiding the snatching fingertips, Rose worked herself out the window. Feeling the sharp tips of a wild hand scraping against the side of her boot, she scurried out as fast as she could falling into the tray heavily.

She couldn't hear anything. Only a dull hum in the back of her mind as she scrambled to the roof of the truck. Keeping away from the edge as best she could, Rose stood on the rooftop of the blue truck and turned around slowly, keeping her weight on her left leg. Her vision felt like a vignetted photograph, tunnelling in, searching for anything, anyway out.

Rose aimed her 9mm at the numbers of moaning corpses surrounding her truck, firing and dropping as many as she could. Her mind only saying one thing.

_Save one of those bullets for yourself._

She put a hand up to shield her eyes as a bright light appeared at the back of the truck. It wasn't a hum she could hear, it was salvation.

Daryl turned his bike and circled the truck, revving the motorcycle, keeping just out of reach of the dead and drawing their attention away from her. Rose picked up his eyes and pointed to the tailgate of the truck bed with her gun. Continuing around the front of the truck, Daryl watched as Rose climbed down off the roof top and fired her last three shots into the heads of the Walkers at the back of the truck. He pulled up in the gap she had created, raising his own handgun and keeping it clear.

"Come on!" He shouted. "Ain't got all day!"

Rose crouched down and swung her legs over the back of the tray, landing badly on her knee but keeping herself upright. She grabbed onto Daryl's vest and swung her leg over the back of the bike as he began walking it forward. Her head swam as Daryl lurched the bike into gear, swaying wildly along the gravel as he adjusted for the new off-balance weight on the back of the motorcycle.

Her arms quickly wrapped around his chest, holding herself hard against him. She buried her face into his back, unable to fight of the nauseating fog in her head if she opened her eyes to the farm blurring by.

Daryl struggled to breath properly but at least he knew where she was. He weaved past the last handful of Walker's on the Greene farm and rode out of there, disappearing into the night.

…...

The startling and then disappearing roar of Daryl's motorbike woke Andrea.

Her head was pounding and the side of her face was sticky and wet. Touching her fingertips to her stinging skull, Andrea touched the bleeding wound Shane had left her with after he knocked her out with the butt of his Glock.

She sat up groggily and looked out to the night. Andrea clung to the flooring of the windmill tower, as her breath left her gasping.

The tower was surrounded by the dead, and she was alone.

…...

_***Some keen followers may have noticed that Elliot suddenly has a M4 carbine instead of an M1. Ever the stickler for details, I just found out they stopped using the M1 standard issue rifle in the 1960's *face palm*. I'm going to go back through the story and change it, but to those who are currently reading this on-going story, my apologies.**_

_**p.s. biggest chapter yet! I didn't have the heart to break it up.**_

_**I won't beg for reviews, but you should know I spent three hours straight writing this chapter, finally crawling into bed at 2am. X.**_


	26. Chapter 26

_The Ladysmith, the P228 that Hershel brought back from town and at least one Glock._

Andrea was making a mental list of the available handguns as she jogged towards the windmill lookout tower in the dark.

The cool night air had dropped the humidity of the rain-withheld day. Autumn nights getting longer and bringing a sharp change to the weather along with it. The clouds had fallen and thinned to a sheer fog, illuminated by the moonlight. Andrea tightened her vest around her body and watched her breath mist like vapour in front of her in the night.

Jogging around the fence that ran along the driveway, Andrea moved toward the windmill, wondering if Shane had already seen her and was ignoring her approach.

"Shane?" She called quietly to the seemingly empty tower.

No reply.

Andrea looked around. There was no where else he could be out here. A small frown marred her forehead and she grabbed onto the metal framework of the windmill. Climbing up the side of the lookout, a feeling of apprehension crept into her stomach. Something is wrong.

She had expected the tower to be empty. But there he sat.

Shane was sitting at the corner of the platform he had built earlier in the day. Resting against a rail he had put up on one side, his head dropped and eyes closed. One leg stretched out in front of himself, one knee brought up to keep his balance.

"Are you asleep?" Andrea asked as she climbed onto the wooden boards.

Not a fan of heights, Andrea fought the urge to look over the edge and see how high she actually was. Distracting herself with the crumpled man in front of her.

Shane lifted his head but looked away from Andrea, out towards the front of the farm. He didn't answer, only making Andrea's uncertainty clench tighter.

"Shane? Are you… crying?" She asked confused, her lip curling as she spoke.

He finally looked at her, a sneer of derision heating his glare. He shook his head scornfully and looked away again to the night.

"What is it, Shane?" Andrea asked, concerned as she moved closer on the platform, seating herself in the middle, away from the edges that Shane seemed so comfortable with. "I see you pushing everyone away, for what? They need you."

Shane scoffed, finally turning back again to look at Andrea. Look at her like she had lost her mind.

Bolstered by his attention, Andrea pressed on. "You have done more to keep this group alive than anybody, including Rick." She tried to convince him, waiting for his reply but receiving none.

Shane's expression was hard and unpleasant. His dark pupils rested on Andrea's blue eyes, dilated in the dim night, but still so blue. His mouth parted slightly in an angry scowl, his default appearance these days. Exaggerated contempt.

Andrea never backed down from an argument. Shane's silence wasn't enough to stop her from saying her piece. "Have you ever considered a lighter touch?" She asked quietly, keeping the eye contact. "Abandoning the search for Sophia, taking out the Walkers in the barn… they were all the right calls. It's your presentation that leaves something to be desired."

"They ain't gonna listen to me." Shane finally answered to Andrea's relief. "I'll always be the odd man out, same as you."

"I've made my peace." Andrea replied with a slow shake of her head.

"Have you?" Shane asked derisively. "Way I see it, everybody is happy to sit around playin' house, while Rick and Hershel think they know what they're doin', but they bound to get us all killed."

"Then we have to stop that." Andrea shot back.

Shane sat up properly, leaning forward in towards Andrea, like he was sharing some great secret. He whispered. "But you and me, we the only ones that see it coming." He sat back again and looked out into the night, an unpleasant look on his face and a final snort of disdain. "I should have left with you when I had the chance."

Andrea felt ill at his words.

Leaving may have been something she considered a while ago, but she had more to stay for now. Someone to stay for.

Andrea looked back to the farmhouse, remembering what she came over for as she looked at the lit up windows and the row of illuminated cars in front.

With a soft sigh, Andrea turned back to face Shane, to ask if she could take some weapons and ammo for the cars. "Shane, I…"

The butt of Shane's Glock rounded on the side of Andrea's head with the sickening dull crack of hard steel on skull.

Reaching out to grab Andrea so she didn't fall, Shane settled her down in the middle of the platform, checking that she was still alive and breathing. He wanted her out cold, not dead.

"Sorry Blondie," Shane muttered as he made his way past her to the edge of the tower. "You made your peace. Now I'm gonna have to go make mine."

…...

_***I can't leave 2013 on this note. Expect one more chapter before New Years. Happy holidays my lovely followers, favouriters and reviewers. Without you, this story would not exist. Have a safe and joyous time. X.**_


	27. Chapter 27

The bright flash of the morning sun reflection from the car windows hit Elliot in his eyes, presenting a blue streak in his tired vision that will fade. Approaching the traffic snarl he rubbed the sleepy ache from his gaze and slowed the van to a safer speed. They were returning here for the second time today. At Rick's instruction, this was the first place they stopped last night. After waiting an hour and no one else came, the fear set in and they drove a wide circle around the Greene property and surrounding roads trying to find the rest of their group before returning to the place where they left the message for Sophia. Elliot brought the van in close to the jam of cars, Carl opening the door before they even fully stopped.

"Where's mom?" Carl jumped from the van and looked around. The panic he had been stowing all night finally bubbling to the surface. His voice was a frightened and angry squeak as he turned back to face his dad. "You said she'd be here by now." He walked back and stood in front of Rick as Elliot and Hershel climbed out of the van to join him. "We gotta go back for her." His statement was a cross between an order and a plea for help.

"Carl…" Rick tried to soothe, not really sure what he was going to say.

"No! What are you doing? Why are we running?" Carl threw his arms out, raising his voice to an alarming level. " It's mom. We need to get her, and not be safe a mile away."

"Ay!" Elliot hushed quietly. "Ya need to keep it down."

Carl heeded Elliot but continued his begging to his father. "Please… it's mom."

"Carl, listen…" Rick said in a sedating voice, getting down on a knee in front of his son.

"No." Carl stepped back, shaking his head at his father's madness. Rick's head dropped at the sight of his son's disgusted expression.

Elliot walked over to the pile of supplies they had left for Sophia days ago. Carl moved away from Rick and began looking in a few cars, as if Lori were simply hiding in the backseat of one of the nearby vehicles. Hershel glanced around the tangle of cars, his near empty shotgun in hand.

"Rick, you gotta get your boy to safety." Hershel said quietly, looking back to Rick concerned. "I'll wait here for my girls and the others. I know a few places. We'll meet up somewhere safe later.

"Where?" Rick stood up, pinching the bridge of his nose, pushing away the pain in his head so he could try to think straight. "Where's safe? We're _not _splitting up."

"Rick please, keep your boy safe." Hershel pleaded, his eyebrows drawn in a troubled arc as he met Rick's eyes. "Take Elliot. I'll hide in one of the cars. If a walker gets me, so be it. I've lost my farm, I've lost my wife and maybe my daughters."

"We don't know that." Rick hissed, growing annoyed at Hershel's doubt. "They'll be here."

"And you don't know that." Hershel backhanded.

"You are a man of God. Have some faith." Rick spat, turning away from Hershel to watch his son's fruitless search.

Elliot tried to pass Carl a partially-melted candy bar, that Carol had left for Sophia, as the kid walked past him. Carl brushing it off. Elliot jammed it roughly in the kids shirt pocket and turned to walk back to Rick and Hershel.

"I can't profess to understand God's plan." Hershel stated, shaking his head softly. "Christ promised a resurrection of the dead. I just thought he had something a little different in mind."

"Amen." Elliot scoffed as he walked past the men to the side door of the van, opening it to find his last resort. The baseball bat stuffed down the side of the mattress.

"We stick together." Rick said with finality, walking off to follow his son.

…...

Elliot kissed the air, calling the walker towards him. "Yeahhh… come on you sexy bitch."

The mottled brown long strands of hair, barely covered the black rotted bite mark in her emaciated face. A long hiss spat from her curled back lips. She stumbled forward barefoot and bloodied, having lost her heels many miles ago. The torn up slut dress barely covered her body and rose higher as she put her arms up to reach for Elliot.

"Oh you was a dirty skank before you were dead, weren't cha?" Elliot scoffed.

With a throaty call, the decomposing woman lurched for Elliot, desperate to grab the flesh beyond her reach. Elliot stepped back and beat in the side of her head with one swing of the bat. He had been drawing her away, not wanting to have to smell her sun-rotting body while they waited for the others to arrive.

"Shame." He said, shaking his head at the collapsed corpse at his feet. "You woulda been just my type too."

Elliot wiped the gore off his bat on what remained of her small, fluorescent-coloured dress and walked back to Rick, Hershel and Carl.

"I don't know how much longer we can stay." Hershel said to Rick.

"I'm not leaving without mom." Carl defied.

Rick looked at Hershel, without acknowledging Carl. "So we're just going to walk away, not knowing if my wife, your girls, are still out there? How do we live with that?" He asked, not only with incredulity at Hershel's lack of faith but also a little part of him hoping for a legitimate justification to leave and get Carl to safety.

"You only got one concern now, just one." Hershel stated, almost angrily. "Keeping him alive." He looked at Carl briefly before returning his intent stare to Rick. "Nature may be throwing us a curve ball, but that law is still true."

Rick ran his fingers back through his hair. Could he do it? Could he take Carl and just abandon all hope that anyone else had made it through the herd of Dead?

He looked at his son, sighing.

Rick got down again to Carl's level, looking his son in the eyes. The eyes that were the same as Lori's. He rest his hands on Carl's shoulders.

"Carl… It's not safe here. I'm sorry…" Rick stopped suddenly and turned his head, listening to the distant grumble of an approaching vehicle. He stood up, his hands still on Carl's shaking body.

"Goddamn." Elliot smirked, watching Daryl's motorbike ride slowly forward from the opposite side of the road, Shane's Hyundai behind him. He dropped the breath he had been holding once he saw Rose, tucked behind Daryl on the back of the bike.

The loud rumble of the Triumph dropped to a popping slow rev as Daryl walked the bike across the median of the road. He cut the engine and pushed out the stand, Rose dropping her feet shakily to the ground. Daryl felt her hands slip from his waist, and the warmth from her body fade from the leather across his back. She moved back from him but didn't get off the bike. Looking back at Rose over his shoulder as he kept the bike steady, he saw her looking at her right knee with uncertainty.

"I can't move." Rose said breathlessly, meeting Daryl's perplexed expression as Elliot jogged over to them.

Elliot gave Daryl a casual fist bump, happy to see him, and wrapped the other hand around Rose's upper arm as she swayed unsteadily, testing her leg.

"I'm stuck." Her voice was small and tired as she sat back down on the bike. Too tired for pride.

Elliot stepped behind her and hooked his forearms under her arms, lifting her off to the side of the bike as Daryl lifted her damaged knee, somewhat awkwardly behind his back.

"Ya alright?" Daryl asked, watching as she stumbled and Elliot kept her upright.

Rose gingerly put her weight on her right knee, letting out a soft cry of pain and hopping back to her left leg.

Daryl swung his leg over his motorcycle and took up a position under her other arm. He and Elliot walked her over to Rick, Hershel and Carl as Glenn and Maggie jumped out of the Hyundai to join them.

Rick clapped a hand to Daryl's shoulder and stepped in front to open the side doors of Elliot's van so Rose could have a seat. "Where did you find them?" He asked Daryl with a nod at Maggie who was hugging Hershel, Glenn smiling and walking over to join them at the van.

"This guy's taillights were zigzaggin' all over the road." Daryl smirked at Glenn, joking to break the tension. "Figured it had to be a Asian drivin' like that."

"Good one." Glenn snorted.

"Where's the rest of us?" Rose asked, brushing her windblown hair back from her face and securing it with one of Maggie's hair ties she had kept in the van. She was covering, putting on a strong air, but her shaking voice betrayed her. Her leg was hurting bad.

"No one else has turned up yet." Rick shook his head, his eyes dropping to Rose's straight knee. He wiped the sweat away from his forehead, meeting her pained eyes. "Hershel." Rick called over his shoulder.

Breaking away from his daughter regretfully, Hershel walked towards the van, Maggie on his heels. Glenn stepped to her side and moulded in to her embrace, both relieved to see their family and friends again and worried to see some were not yet there.

Hershel straight away realised the issue. With Elliot, Daryl and Rick all standing around Rose sitting in the van, and her leg carefully resting straight out in front of her, his attention fell immediately to her knee.

Her faded jeans were pulled tight around her knee, so swollen it filled the straight cut denim to the point that they would be damn near impossible to remove without scissors. Hershel crouched down as best he could on his old knees and gently cupped her leg. Rose tensed and winced at his soft prodding, finally issuing a shaky hiss as the doc tried to bend the joint.

"Rose, " He shook his head and lowered her knee back to it's previous resting position. "The amount of swelling and lack of functionality of your knee tells me two things. One; you have possibly permanently damaged vital ligaments and or cartilage in this knee. And two;…"

"Don't sugar coat it or anything Hershel." She quipped, not sure she wanted to hear number two.

"You are going to need a brace or a cast or some sort of immobilisation for at least a month." He finished solemnly, feeling like he was delivering her a death sentence.

Rose only felt like a death sentence to everybody else. She looked around quickly at the others, Rick, Elliot and Daryl, before casting her eyes to the floor of the van beside her, scratching her head in an attempt to hide her watering eyes.

"Rose, it'll be okay." Rick consoled, putting a hand to her shoulder to comfort her.

Clearly her head-scratching wasn't enough to disguise her self-pity. "Yep, yep. No, it's okay." She nodded, keeping her face turned away, just wishing they would leave her alone for a few minutes so she could cry it out.

"Stay off the leg." Hershel warned as he got back up, Elliot helping him to his feet with a hand hold.

Rick and Elliot walked with Hershel back over to Glenn and Maggie, Carl joining them but still watching the road behind them in anticipation of his mom's arrival.

Daryl shifted uncomfortably on the spot, Rose not yet willing to look up.

"You cryin'?" He asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

Rose cleared her throat and brushed away the wetness on her face, before she turned back to face him. "No." She said harshly, determined not to let her voice shatter into a sobbing mess.

Daryl pulled his mouth into a small line and squinted at her reaction, fighting his instinct to give her a serve for snapping at him when he was trying to be nice. He turned away from Rose and walked over to Rick's side. Rose watched him walk away and pulled herself inside the van, lying back on the thin foam mattress and staring blankly at the naked pin-ups stuck haphazardly to the roof with peeling, yellowing tape.

"So where's the rest of us?" Elliot asked what everybody was thinking.

"They gotta be around somewhere." Daryl grumbled, still a little shirty from his interaction with Rose. " 's only been a couple'a hours. I'll head back out, see if I can round 'em up." He said with a nod at his motorbike.

"No." Rick ordered. "We stick together."

"But it's mom." Carl whined, loud enough to break Rose from her self-pitying hole.

"We'll wait." Rick explained to his son. "These guys showed up, mom and the other's will too." He felt Hershel's eyes on the side of his face and turned to reiterate. "We wait."

Hershel replied with a slow single nod before turning back to put his arm around Maggie again.

…...

Daryl and Elliot were picking through cars and siphoning fuel from the traffic snarl. Rick and Carl were sitting on top of a turned over van, watching the road for any sign of Lori and the others. Hershel was in the back of the Hyundai, picking through the dismal first-aid kit that Elliot had given him from the van. Rose was still lying in the back of the Econoline, resting her knee as per doctor's orders, with Maggie and Glenn sitting in the open side doors. Neither were speaking, just holding hands and waiting for anything.

Rose was desperate to get to Rick. Her stomach was churning. It hadn't escaped her that Rick was here, and Shane was not. Laying on her back, feeling both distressed and comforted by Glenn and Maggie's presence, a heavy weight rested on her chest, forcing a burning lump to the back of her throat.

It wasn't until the urgent, distant rev of the Grimes station wagon broke the quiet of the dead world, that anything notable happened.

Carl's muted cry lightened Rose's dread. "Mom!" Muffled, no doubt, by Rick trying to contain his son's excitement and not alert any nearby Dead of their location. Maggie and Glenn ran off with a regretful look at Rose, still confined to bed rest.

"We'll be back soon." Glenn said quickly then turned to follow Maggie's desperate steps.

Rose sat up, rubbing her knee lightly. Anything more than a soft stroke would shoot a ribbon of pain through her overworked nerves. She could hear the approaching jog of Daryl and Elliot.

"Elliot!" Rose hissed out urgently as the pair approached. Propping herself up on her elbow.

Elliot stopped at the open doors and looked into the van, smirking lightly at the laid-up woman, knowing that she hated being restricted like this. Daryl continuing on with a brief, sideways glance at Rose.

"Elliot, please tell me it's them…" Rose asked.

"It's them." He answered, watching T-Dog and the rest of the missing people file from the car.

"Who?" Rose needed details.

"Them. The others." Elliot shrugged irritably.

"Fucking WHO Elliot?!" Rose snapped.

"Fuck! It's them!" Elliot shouted back. "T, Lori, Beth, Patty, Carol and Sophie, ALRIGHT?!"

"No Andrea?!" Rose yelled back.

Elliot's face dropped as he moved around on the spot, hoping to see past the crowd around the station wagon.

"Elliot?" Rose's voice softened.

"She's not there." Elliot replied, disbelievingly.

Rose rolled back and rest her dizzy head against the mattress, feeling that hot sick rise again in the back of her mouth. She pressed her palms into her eyes, fighting the spinning walls around her that she had only ever felt before when she was drunk.

The hurried steps of approaching people drew Rose's hands back from her face. Elliot stepped back as Carol and Sophia rushed into the open door space. Carol clapping her hands to her mouth and Sophia gripping onto her mother's side, silent tears escaping into Carol's shirt.

"You're okay." Carol hushed behind her fingertips. "When Theodore drove off, we thought…"

"I'm okay enough." Rose nodded, smiling for the first time.

"Thank God." Was Carol's quiet reply.

"Thank Daryl." Rose corrected, rolling again on to her side and propping herself up on her arm.

Rick, Lori, Carl and everyone else joined the small group at the van. Rose feeling a little ridiculous that everyone had to have the group meeting where she was laid-up. Occasional glances in at her reclined position reinforcing her feeling of uselessness.

"It's time to move now." Rick said authoritatively, subtly sending Hershel a fleeting nod.

"Rick…" Elliot began.

"I know Elliot… Andrea." Rick raised his hand, cutting off Elliot before he could say it. "Did anyone see her at all at the farm? Did anyone see her get out?"

A few of the group shook they're heads in reply, most just silently hoping someone saw something.

Rose could see Elliot standing beside a small blue Ford hatchback. He was clenching his fists and breathing heavy short breaths. She could almost see the pain stoking inside him as every second felt like an hour.

Rick sighed, looking sorely at Elliot. "I think we have to assume the worst…"

The sudden dull ringing noise of Elliot's fist denting the rear quarter panel of the small car as he spun around, made everyone jump and cut Rick off mid-sentence. Elliot marched off down the maze of random cars, needing some space to think and grieve.

"Everybody start getting everything together." Rick instructed quietly, looking around the down-trodden group. "We're moving out soon."

The group began dispersing away. It was only a moment later when Elliot's voice rang out again, his heavy footfall alerting Rose to his heated approach.

"I ain't goin' Rick." Elliot said, stopping just short of Rose's viewpoint. "I'm goin' back to the farm."

"What are you talking about?!" Rose shouted before Rick could question him himself.

Elliot stomped over to the door and ripped it back so he could see Rose inside. She had pictured him red-faced-and-foaming-at-the-mouth angry but he wasn't that at all. Elliot looked almost sad. Not sad, desperate. He swallowed a lump with a small frown and looked down at Rose.

"Elliot?" Rick cautiously pressed. Daryl standing back but watching intently. Everyone else had stopped what they were doing, also interested and somewhat nervous.

Elliot turned back to look at Rick. "I ain't leavin' her, Rick."

"Elliot, we don't know that she's aliv…"

"We don't know that she's dead either." Elliot cut off before Rick could finish. "I'm goin' ta find out."

"We need you Elliot." Rick shook his head.

"She needs me." Elliot said of Andrea before turning to look back at Rose again.

Elliot's expression crumpled something inside Rose. His eyes were hurt. His hands were balled into fist holding the last of his determination. Rose knew if she told him to stay, he would. He would open his hands and let go of his strength and purpose, but with it he would lose something else. Something that he had fought hard to instill in Rose.

A reason.

A point to it all.

_Why go on…? This is why._

"He has to go, Rick." Rose stated, looking at Elliot with a nod. "You have to go."

_Thank you_

Elliot said it, without saying it. He tilted his head down, still holding Rose's eyes. His breath was shaking but his body was steady. A wisp of a smile hinted at the corner of his mouth.

"Get your shit outta my van." He said with a smirk. "Ya got five minutes." Elliot tapped on the side of the door and turned to Rick.

Rick was standing aside, hands on his hips. He wasn't angry or disappointed. If anything, he was relieved. Rick didn't want to move on without Andrea, she was part of group, one of them. Elliot standing up and taking the responsibility lifted one of the many painful weights Rick bore on his conscious. He put his hand out and took Elliot's, shaking firmly and wishing him luck with a heartfelt look.

Elliot sniffed and put on his game-face, as he called it. He turned to Daryl, who was standing nearby, and gestured down the road with a nod of his head, asking the man for a private chat.

"You okay?" Rick asked, peering into the back of the Econoline as the pair of men walked off.

"Yeah." Rose said with a fake laugh. "I don't know what he means though, I don't have anything in here."

"Rose…" Rick began, concerned.

She sighed and cut him off with a melancholy look. "I'm okay. I have you guys. So… I'm okay." She moved around awkwardly, trying her best not to use her leg at all. Rick stepped to her side at the van door and put his hands out to help her to her feet, or rather, foot.

"Wait, wait, hold on." Rose held up her hand, having spotted something inside the open storage box. She reached in and pulled out a black sharpie. Rick stood back and watched her uncap the marker, drop the storage box lid and lean over closer to the back of the beige vinyl driver's seat.

'Don't forget me, Bitch! Rose.'

"Very deep." Rick commented with a small smirk as Rose put the lid back on the marker.

She pushed her sharpie into her back pocket and smiled back at Rick. "And straight from the heart." Rose laughed.

…...

Elliot returned a few minutes later. Both he and Daryl wearing the same burnt out look, like they had been arguing but ultimately decided to 'agree to disagree'. Neither looked satisfied. A small glance at Rose, and Daryl disappeared back into the jumble of cars, muttering something along the lines of 'keeping lookout' to Rick.

Rose was watching from the passenger seat of the Hyundai. She sat back in the comfortable seat and waited until Elliot spotted her. He walked over to the car, closing her door before circling around the back of the small car and getting in to the driver's seat, closing the door behind him.

After a few seconds of pointed silence, Elliot sighed, looking at his firm grip on the steering wheel in front of him. Rose waited until he worked out the words he wanted to say. She had a feeling she knew what it was going to be about.

"I did a lot a shitty things in my life." Elliot spoke slowly, each sentence separate in its painful way, but needed to be said anyway. "I don't expect to be going anywhere good after this world. There is only so far 'I was just following orders' can get you, and I have a feeling that kinda bullshit don't fly at the pearly gates." Elliot paused, his thoughts briefly flicking to his mother and sister before getting back to his point. Rose made a small noise in the back of her throat, like she was about to say something. Elliot put his hand up to shush her and continued. "I can't ask for forgiveness from those people for those sins, that's for Him to decide." He dropped his hand back down to his lap and looked up at Rose. "I can only ask you for your's."

"Elliot…" Rose began.

"Rose. It is the one thing in my life that I… It never should have happened." Elliot shook his head, his dark eyes piercing hers and asking for compassion. "That night I hit you… I… fuck…"

"Stop, Elliot." Rose pleaded. "Listen to me. What happened then, got us here now. If it never happened we never would have got moving, never would have met these people. It's okay Elliot. I'm okay. Because of you." Rose picked up Elliot's hand, the soft gesture was so unfamiliar it almost felt alien, but it was important. Rose looked back into Elliot's eyes. "People make mistakes. No exceptions. But when our people mess up, we forgive them, because we love them."

Elliot nodded subtly, looking down at Rose's hand in his. He turned it over and gave it a soft squeeze, before placing it back in her lap.

"Okay?" Rose asked with a smile.

Elliot nodded. He let out a sharp exhale and grabbed onto the door handle. Pausing before he got out, Elliot turned back to Rose with a smirk. "Look after Daryl for me."

"Go find Andrea, you big pussy." She quipped back, opening her own door to let the cool breeze in.

Rose sat back in the passenger seat and watched as Elliot said some quick goodbyes and went over a map briefly with Rick on the bonnet of the Hyundai, discussion future possible meeting sites.

"Rick." Elliot said with a mock seriousness, loud enough to make sure Rose could hear. "Make sure you keep her busy, okay? She ain't as useless as she looks."

Rick looked at Rose with a wry smile before turning back to Elliot. "We will, man. We'll keep her safe till you get back."

"I didn't say safe," He scoffed. "I said busy. Put her lazy-ass to work."

It was only a few short minutes later Elliot climbed into the green Econoline, turned it around, and drove past Rose with a brief nod goodbye.

He looked happy.


	28. Chapter 28

_***Hi readers, w**_**_elcome to 2014! As soon as we get past 'Beside the Dying Fire' it's gonna be AU right through winter. Enjoy and remember I looove hearing from you._**

**_X._**

Elliot's van left a wake behind it. One that stayed long after the green Econoline had disappeared from sight. A silence and a fear. The dwindling numbers, and the loss of Elliot's presence, scared people. He was young, hot headed, crass, but most of all he was someone you couldn't help but feel safe with. His sheer size, speed and lethality created an imaginary field of security around you if you stood near him. Without him, everyone suddenly felt very exposed.

The mothers, Maggie, Beth and the kids all subconsciously huddled together by the station wagon, talking quietly and waiting for the next move. T-Dog and Glenn watchful nearby for any signs of movement along the highway before and behind them.

Rose still seated in the Hyundai, straining to hear what the other part of the group were discussing, particularly because she believed it was about her.

Rick, Hershel and Daryl were talking off to the side, the other side of a car in front of the Hyundai. The occasional glance would fleetingly look over a shoulder and catch Rose's eye, shortening her fuse and tightening her stomach each time.

Daryl had returned a few minutes after Elliot had left. No explanation for his behaviour. Not that you could expect one from Daryl. He had walked past Rose, quickly looking to check she was still there, and gone to join Rick and Hershel in discussion. He had returned with something black bundled up under his arm, a bag or something, which he kept referring to in conversation.

Rose put her hand to her knee, her eyes still on the men, weighing up whether or not she should get out of the car and go find out what the hell they were talking about, and whether or not she should be involved.

Hershel nodded solemnly, and said something final, before turning and walking away from the conversation. Rose didn't need to hear to know what was said next, she recognised Rick's facial expression. 'Are you sure?' he asked Daryl.

Daryl looked at Rose from the other side of the car and muttered something to Rick with a smirk. Rose kept Daryl's eye, making sure not to lose his attention. He nodded to Rick, who spun around to look at Rose as well, confirming they _were _talking about her. Biting at the inside of her lips to stop herself from shouting at them, Rose watched as Rick and Daryl shared some dry joke and broke off from their private chat.

Rick walked away to join the others and get people organised to leave. Daryl squinted at Rose and finally decided to let her in on the discussion. He walked over to the Hyundai, shoulders back, eyes on Rose.

"What the hell was that about?" She hissed angrily as soon as Daryl was within ear shot.

"What, you don't like us talkin' about ya?" Daryl smirked as he put his black bundle on the car roof and leaned on the door frame, hovering over Rose.

Rose only replied with an angry scowl that pulled her mouth into a small pout.

"We were talking about movin'." Daryl answered. "Ain't everybody gonna fit in those two cars."

It hadn't occurred to Rose. Without the Econoline, they were short one seat.

"So you comin' with me again or what?" Daryl dropped the black bundle in her lap and stood back from the door to watch Rose's reaction.

She opened up the leather jacket Daryl had found and looked it over. It was probably a size too big for her, but would fit well enough. Only the faint odour clinging to the porous material confirmed to Rose where Daryl had found it.

Rose looked at him with a small wince, trying to push the image out of her head of Daryl peeling the leather off of a sun-dried dead body.

"What did Hershel say?" She asked, mixed feelings about it all.

"He's gonna strap your knee up 'fore we move." Daryl looked over to the larger group, watching Hershel find an elasticised bandage in the first aid supplies. "Gonna ask about the jacket?" He asked looking at Rose again with a hint of amusement.

"I think I'd rather not know." She looked at the leather in her lap and sighed at the fact that she was already getting use to the smell. "I remember a time when you didn't want me on the back of your bike." Rose recalled when they had left the CDC. She had approached Daryl, about to ask if she could ride with him and he had ridden off, shaking his head before she could even ask.

"It's either you or T." Daryl squinted at Rose with a small grimace.

Rose snorted quietly, amused at the image in her head of T-Dog clinging on to Daryl on the back of the Triumph. A small smile slid to the corner of Daryl's mouth before he straightened up. Hershel and Maggie walking over to the Hyundai.

Passing Daryl, Hershel looked into the passenger side door and caught Rose's eye. "Is this what you want?" He asked quietly in his concerned, fatherly voice as he crouched down.

"Yeah." Rose consented, sparing a quick glimpse at Daryl. "Strap me up."

Maggie moved in between her dad and the door to help Rose turn around in the seat. Hershel wrapped her knee securely and gave it a small flex to see if it would sit comfortably. Daryl stood nearby watching.

"It's good." Rose nodded.

Maggie helped Rose out of the car. Keeping her weight on her left leg she stood up and moved slowly to the back of the Hyundai. Maggie grabbed the leather jacket and held it open with a small sour look on her face.

"It's not _that _bad, Maggie." Rose smirked, zipping up the front and checking the length of the sleaves. It fit her quite well, a little loose around the torso but she wasn't going to complain. It was heavier than she had anticipated, but that wouldn't matter when she was sitting again. At least she wouldn't freeze this time.

"Gonna see if we're ready to go." Daryl said with an unreadable expression as he walked over to the station wagon.

It was only a few minutes later they were on the road. Glenn, Patricia and the Greenes were in the Hyundai. Carol, Sophia, T-Dog and the Grimes were squeezed into the station wagon.

Maggie had helped Rose climb on the back of Daryl's bike before joining her family.

Daryl waited until Rose got settled comfortably. She pulled her dirty blonde hair back in a small knot at the top of her neck and zipped the leather up to the neck to keep out the wind. Rose's hands settled on Daryl's waist and her body pressed softly into his back. _At least I'll be able to tell if she falls off_, he told himself, trying to keep his thoughts focused. Her feet on the pegs, Daryl started the bike and reached up to the ape-hangers. With a nod to Rick, Daryl walked the bike forward and took the lead, Rose gripping just a little tighter.

…...

_Stay off the main roads. The bigger the roads, the more walkers._

It had been hours. Driving further south on the back roads. The sun had dropped below the tree line and the air was getting cold. The wind was biting at Rose's fingertips, thought she was feeling comfortable on the bike. Hours of ass-numbing riding gave her plenty of time to get use to being a good pillion. Rose brought her hands between her and Daryl, defending them from the cold with the warmth between their bodies.

Daryl looked over his shoulder, seeing only a few stray blonde strands blowing around out the corner of his eye. He glanced down to where he could see her strapped knee pressed against his thigh.

A car horn sounded behind them. Daryl slowed down, pulling the bike over to the side of the road. Rose's hands again gripping to the sides of his vest as she shifted back on the seat a little to give him some space to move. He kicked the motorbike out of gear and slowed to a stop in the middle of nowhere.

Rick was first out of the cars, walking quickly up the front of the line to scope out where they were.

"You out?" Daryl asked, Rose jumping slightly at the sound of his voice. He looked back at her, having felt her jolt against his back.

"Runnin' on fumes." Rick answered, shaking his head.

Maggie, Glenn and others quickly joined them.

"We can't stay here." The young brunette pointed out.

"We can't all fit in one car." Glenn answered.

Daryl pushed down the bike stand, he kept the motorcycle balanced while Rose stood up. She put her hands to his shoulders and carefully manoeuvred herself off the bike, keeping her weight on her left leg. Daryl followed her off the bike and moved her to the guard rail on the side of the road.

Rick kept his calm. "We'll just have to make a run for gas in the morning."

"Spend the night here?" Carol asked, scared as she walked up and stood beside Rose and Daryl.

"I'm freezing." Carl moaned to his mother, as he and others left the cars to join the group.

"We'll build a fire." Lori answered, pulling him in tighter to her side with a pointed look at Rick.

"Look for some firewood." Daryl spoke up, prying the crossbow off the mount on the front of the bike. "Everybody stay close. Only got so many arrows. How you doin' on ammo?" He asked Rick, jutting his chin at Rick's python.

"Not enough." Rick answered, watching Rose flex her knee as she rest against the rail.

Everyone was scared. Maggie was the first to speak up. "Well we can't just sit here with our asses hanging out."

"Watch your mouth." Hershel reprimanded his eldest daughter as he held onto his youngest. "Everybody, stop panicking and listen to Rick."

"Alright," Rick spoke to calm everybody. "we set up a perimeter. In the morning we'll find some gas, some supplies. We'll keep pushing on."

Maggie moved closer to Glenn, sharing a concerned look. "Glenn and I can go make a run now, try and scrounge up some gas." She suggested awkwardly.

"No, we stay together." Rick shot her down, glancing at the faces of the group all looking to him for answers. "God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car." He finished forcefully.

"Rick, we're stranded now." Glenn said shaking his head regretfully.

"I know it looks bad." Rick sighed, dropping his voice to a calmer note. "We've all been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other. I wasn't sure, I really wa…."

Rose suddenly felt heavy and tired. Rick's voice seemed to fade into white noise, as the world around her became foggy and a rushing wave of nausea made her feel light and faint. It must have showed on her face, Carol stepped a little closer to Rose, ready to catch her if she went down but still listening to Rick talk about finding somewhere safe.

That was all that mattered to Carol, finding somewhere safe for Sophia. She just wasn't sure if Rick was the man who would find that place.

"We'll make camp tonight, over there." Rick moved away, pointing at a stone structure beside a dam. The remnants of an old house or mill. "Get back on the road at the break of day.

"Does that sound right to you?" Carol asked Daryl, catching him off guard.

Daryl looked between Carol and Rose, wondering what in the hell it mattered what he thought. Rick said camp, we camp.

"What if there are walkers?" Beth asked aloud, her voice shaky. "Or a group like Randall's?"

Carol felt Rose's hand weakly wrap around her arm, grasping onto the soft wool of her knit cardigan. Turning, Carol watched as Rose swayed a little on the spot and put a hand under her arm to support her.

"We can't stay out here like this." Carol protested. "We're vulnerable." She glanced back at Sophia in the car with her plaster cast, Rose breathing heavily beside her.

Daryl moved in to Rose's other side, watching concerned as Rose turned a shade of green.

"You alright?" He grunted quietly when she seemed to have regained some control.

"Just dizzy." Rose mumbled, bending forward slightly and breathing deeply.

"Sit down." Daryl suggested, as she stood back up again slowly.

"If I go down, I won't get back up again." Rose said quietly as she wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and the sweat off her forehead.

"What happened to Shane?" T-Dog stepped forward to Rick, snapping Rose and Daryl's attention back to the conversation. "I noticed you ain't said anything about that all yet."

Rose leant against the rail watching Rick. T-Dog asked the question they had all been thinking.

Rick looked ill, like he wasn't going to answer.

"We're all infected." He finally said, his hand moving to his mouth after he said the words as if he too was about to throw up.

"What?!" Daryl asked incredulously.

"At the CDC, Jenner told me." Rick continued. He dropped his hands to his hips and stood, looking through his eyelashes, confessing to them all. "Whatever it is, we all carry it."

"And you never said anything?" Carol accused.

"Would it have made a difference?" Rick asked defensively.

Glenn stepped forward, unable to process what he was hearing. "You knew this whole time?"

"How could I have known for sure?" Rick shook his head at Glenn. "You saw how crazy that man…"

"That is not your call." Glenn shot back. "When I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told for the good of everyone." Hershel and Maggie tensed up at Glenn's words but each looked at Rick for his defence of his actions.

"Well I thought it best if people didn't know." Rick hissed angrily and quietly.

"Is that what happened to Dale?" Rose asked. Her weak voice buckled Rick, making him turn away, unable to look at her or anyone.

He walked away from the group without answering.

Pushing Carl to Beth's side, Lori followed after Rick.

The husband and wife were talking out of earshot. Everyone trying to look away to afford what little privacy they could.

Hershel walked over to Rose and gave her a bottle of water. She struggled to open the bottle, as Hershel pressed his hand to her forehead. Daryl took the bottle and unscrewed the cap for her, handing it back and waiting for the doctors prognosis. She took a swig of water and pushed Hershel's hand away. "I'm fine." Rose said gruffly. "I was just dizzy is all."

"We should get you off your feet." Hershel answered back, looking over her shoulder to the stone shelter Rick had pointed out, stirring Daryl into action.

"Don't even think about it." Rose said to Daryl before he could even consider throwing her over his shoulder again.

"Stubborn woman." Daryl scoffed. He looked up to see the others and their confused waiting. "All a yall. Let's move it." Daryl said with a wave of a finger in the air.

"We'll get some firewood." Glenn said disheartened. He took Maggie's hand and they slowly moved over to the tree line.

"Stay close." Daryl instructed, lifting Rose's arm so he could help her walk to the structure.

T-Dog moved Beth and Carl forward. Carol got Sophia out of the car and collected up a few blankets from the back of the station wagon.

Rose looked over to Rick. Lori's sudden movement, shoving Rick away from herself, catching her eye.

Daryl let out a quiet breath. Rose guessing he saw the husband and wife fight too.

"I guess that's about Shane." Rose said quietly, so only Daryl could hear.

Daryl grunted his agreement and continued moving Rose slowly inside the walls.


End file.
